Sancti Spíritus, November 15 (PL) -- The Matanzas team broke a pair of streaks with its 8-1 victory over the leader Sancti Spíritus in the Elite League of Cuban Baseball (LEBC).
The triumph left the Crocodiles with four consecutive defeats and also cut the consecutive successes of their opponents, who still hold the lead of the championship by half a unit over Industriales, unable to play due to rain in Santiago de Cuba.
The fans of this city in the center of the island witnessed a duel between the starters Yamichel Pérez, a former member of the host Gallos, and José Isaías Grandales, who for five innings kept the Matanceros ahead by just two runs.
Yamichel (6.0IP, 1CL, 4H, 6K, 1BB) handled his former teammates at will, a job that earned him success, while Grandales exploded in the sixth inning and suffered the failure.
Andrys Pérez hit 4-3 with one run batted in and two runs scored, while Eduardo Blanco drove in three runs and Eduardo Blanco two runs.
The other game of this Tuesday had a similar course, as Las Tunas took an irreversible lead in the sixth inning with six runs, defining in the final score of 11-4 over Artemisa.
The decisions also fell on both starting pitchers, Yadián Martínez (5.2IP, 2CL, 6H, 3K, 1BB) for the Leñadores and José Ignacio Bermúdez, who walked the same in a losing cause. Kelbis Rodríguez earned the save.
Yosvani Alarcón and Denis Peña hit home runs for the winners, and Carlos de la Tejera also hit a round-tripper for the Cazadores.
The game between Industriales and Santiago de Cuba was cancelled due to rain and they play a doubleheader on Wednesday.
Sancti Spíritus kept the lead in the standings with a 5-2 balance, just half a game ahead of Industriales (4-2). Behind them are Santiago de Cuba (3-3), Matanzas and Las Tunas (3-4), with Artemisa (2-5) in last place.
This Wednesday concludes the second sub-series of a 40-game per team schedule in the preliminary phase of the Cuban winter league, whose champion will be decided in January.