The Leones de La Habana, barricaded in their Latin American Stadium headquarters, will today seek their third consecutive victory against the Leñadores de Las Tunas, to close in on the throne of the 64th National Baseball Series.

The blues once again ignited their fans yesterday with a 3-2 triumph, decided by a home run from Roberto Álvarez in the eighth inning against relief pitcher Keniel Ferráz, a connection that unleashed euphoria in the stands of the Coloso del Cerro.
Álvarez was the offensive hero of the clash with a pair of RBIs, supporting the mound work of Raymond Figueredo, who worked seven innings with five strikeouts and two runs (one earned). The win was credited to Rafael Orlando Perdomo, while Frank Herrera closed with authority to record his seventh save of the campaign.

With that victory, Industriales reached a record of 28-16 and took advantage of the rain-induced suspension of the duel between the leaders, the Cachorros de Holguín and the Cocodrilos de Matanzas, to place themselves just one game off the top spot.
In the rest of the day’s play, the Huracanes de Mayabeque blew strong at the Augusto César Sandino by defeating the Leopardos de Villa Clara 8-5, with an offence of 14 hits that keeps them in the chasing pack.
The Cazadores de Artemisa once again prevailed against the Avispas santiagueras, this time 13-10 at the 26 de Julio stadium, with a demolishing attack of 17 hits; at the Cándido González, the Toros de Camagüey charged 6-4 against the Gallos espirituanos; while at the José Ramón Cepero, the Avilanian Tigers tamed the Elefantes de Cienfuegos 5-2.

The Vegueros de Pinar del Río, for their part, knocked out the Indios de Guantánamo 11-1 with a great performance from Alexei Ramírez and William Saavedra; and at the Cristóbal Labra, the bottom-placed Piratas de La Isla surprised the Alazanes de Granma 6-4.
Weather permitting, the Cachorros and the Cocodrilos will attempt to resume action today with a double-header at the Calixto García, in a series that could redefine the championship lead.

Following yesterday’s results, Holguín (29-15) remains at the summit, followed by Industriales (28-16), Matanzas (28-17), Las Tunas (25-17), Mayabeque (26-18), Artemisa (25-19), Sancti Spíritus (26-21) and Cienfuegos (23-20), currently closing out the qualification zone.