Yoenni Yera

Chinese Taipei, Nov 6 (PL) The Cuban team that will participate in the Premier 12 defeated today 7-1 the CTBC Brother, reigning champions of the Taiwan Professional League, in a match played at the Intercontinental Stadium in Taichung.

After defeating the semi-professional squad Life Along 6-5 the day before in their first preparation game in Taiwanese soil, the team led by Armando Johnson, although they hit just six hits, managed to score the victory.

The newcomer from the Japanese League, starter Ariel Martinez, hit a pair of home runs in his fourth at bat and towed an equal number of runs to lead the offense of the Antilleans.

Yoan Moncada, Yoelquis Guibert, Jeans Walters, and Andrys Perez hit the other hits and Yoenni Yera did an excellent job pitching five innings with the same number of strikeouts and only one run allowed, product of a home run.

Also on the mound were Yusniel Padrón, dominant in three sections with six strikeouts to his record, and Raidel Martínez, who made his debut with the national team by hanging a ring with two strikeouts, after achieving the lead in saves in the Land of the Rising Sun.

Tomorrow, Thursday, the Cubans have agreed to face another challenge against the same rivals and then they will move to the capital, the venue of their group in the third edition of the event that hosts the 12 top-ranked countries in the world, where they will compete against the national team of Chinese Taipei, which will be in their qualifying group.

The Dominican Republic, Australia, the reigning champions of Japan, and South Korea, the title holder in the first version (2015) and which has already shown its credentials by defeating the Cubans twice last week in preparatory matches, were also placed in this key (B), which will kick off the actions on the 13th.

The United States, Puerto Rico, Panama, Venezuela, the Netherlands, and the Mexican hosts will start their clashes next Saturday in the cities of Tepic and Guadalajara, as part of the A section.