Havana, June 12 (JIT).- The Vegueros of Pinar del Río defeated the Alazanes of Granma by 14-2 knockout on Tuesday, on their own territory, and retained the lead in the 63rd National Baseball Series.
With this success in their fiefdom of the Capitán San Luis stadium, when both teams are qualified for the postseason, the troops of mentor Alexander Urquiola broke their long-standing rival's streak of seven successive victories.
The Pinar del Río team decided the game in the same first inning with a run of eight runs, thanks to five hits, three walks, a hit and an error. In the seven innings played, Lázaro Benítez, Tailon Sánchez, Luis Pablo Acosta and slugger Yaser Julio González hit home runs, his 16th in the campaign. Fourth victory for Vladimir Baños.
Meanwhile, Santiago de Cuba KO'd Industriales 11x1 in seven acts, with excellent pitching work by the experienced Dany Betancourt, who only allowed three singles in six innings.
For the indomitable Wasps, Adriel Labrada stood out at bat, going 2-for-4 with a double, home run and five RBIs. The Santiago team is 11-3 when they play on Tuesdays.
And Matanzas took a firm step towards the playoffs, with its 9-5 victory over Camagüey, which suffered its sixth consecutive defeat.
The Yumurino Crocodiles sent a whopping four home runs, thanks to the powerful swings of Yadier Mujica, Ariel Sánchez, Andrys Pérez and José Amaury Noroña, who reached 17 and drove in two runs to remain the leader (72).
In other results, Mayabeque beat Ciego de Ávila 7x2, Villa Clara 3x2 against Cienfuegos and Sancti Spíritus signed its sixth victory in a row, this one 13x4 against Holguín.
The National Baseball Commission indicated that the Calixto García stadium in Holguín does not have the grass at the established height because it has not been plowed.
The match between the monarch exponent Las Tunas and Artemisa was suspended due to rain, while the Guantánamo confrontation with Isla de la Juventud was not played. This Wednesday they will play at the Nelson Fernández stadium in Mayabeque, where they will close this particular subseries.
