Cuba vs Korea

Taipei, Nov 13 (PL) Cuba and South Korea announced today starters for tomorrow's clash at the Tianmu Stadium, on the second day of the III Premier 12 baseball tournament, almost definitive in their aspirations to advance to the next phase.

Left-hander Liván Moinelo for the Antilleans and right-hander Been Gwak for the Asians, will be looking for a victory at all costs to keep their teams with a chance of reaching the final round, after both fell on the opening day.

The Cubans fell 1-6 to Dominican Republic in a match that was decided in the last third of the clash, while the South Koreans, champions in 2015 and one of the favorites to reach the podium, lost 6-3 to hosts Chinese Taipei.

Moinelo, the card designated by mentor Armando Johnson, is perhaps one of the best pitchers present in the tournament, after becoming one of the most dominant in the Japan Pro League this year.

In the uniform of the SoftBank Falcons, the 28-year-old was the most effective in the Pacific League with an average of 1.88 runs allowed per nine innings, an average that no other Latin American had ever reached in the history of baseball in the Land of the Rising Sun.

In addition, in his first game as a starter after seven seasons as a reliever, he was fourth in wins with 11 and in strikeouts with 155 in 163 innings of work.

Gwak, is a 25-year old pitcher who returned from a successful surgery and has a 96 mph straight line.

In his last season in his country's professional league (KBO), he won 15 games, lost nine and struck out 154 batters in 167 and two-thirds innings of work with 17 quality starts.