Industriales’ long-awaited advance to the post-season delayed by Pineros

Piratas de Isla de la Juventud defeated Leones de Industriales 3×0 on Tuesday, who were unable to become, for the moment, the fifth team to qualify for the play offs of the 63rd National Baseball Series.

It was one of the two games that could have been decided on Tuesday, which was once again tinged by the incessant rain.

These days, the abundant rainfall has worsened the conditions of the grounds of the country, where workers have deployed an arduous work for its reconditioning in order to meet the schedule, and thus avoid that the grand finale of the season coincides with the performance of Cuba in the Olympic Games in Paris 2024.

In the game at the Latinoamericano Stadium, the heavy downpour came in the seventh inning. Left-hander Yunier Gamboa tied up mentor Guillermo Carmona’s Blue line-up and held them to just one hit over 5.2 innings.

Fellow sinestro Yadier Garay got the final out and earned his eighth save.

Madero, centre fielder and first baseman José Luis Bring, who hit 3-3, with a home run and two runs.

In the other completed game, Villa Clara beat Holguín 10×0, and with a 37-36 record, is now half a game behind Sancti Spíritus and Guantánamo, occupants for now of the desired eighth place that assures the last ticket to the post-season.

For the Azucareros Villaclareños, who hit 15 singles for their sixth successive win, left fielder Luis Darío Machado was the standout offensive player, hitting 4-3, with a double and a pair of RBIs.

Fourth win for Alain Sánchez, after allowing seven hits in five innings. The right-hander was able to solve the problems by handing out five strikeouts and the Cubs were unable to score against him.

The games Guantánamo-Santiago de Cuba, Sancti Spíritus-Cienfuegos and Pinar del Río-Artemisa were suspended, while the duels Granma-Las Tunas (4×4 tie), Matanzas-Mayabeque (3×2 in favour of Matanzas) and Ciego de Ávila-Camagüey (2×0 with an Avileña advantage) had to be sealed.