Ciego de Avila Tigers pitcher Dachel Duquesne will be looking for his 100th career win today and his eighth of the season, leading in that department in the LXIII National Baseball Series.
At 36 years of age and with 15 seasons under his belt, this pitcher continues to be a key part of the Avila rotation after missing last season for personal reasons.
His return could not have been better, as he has a 7-3 record with a 3.61 earned run average per complete game and only 1.38 batters batted in per inning.
This type of pitcher is highly prized for his durability on the mound beyond the stats he can throw, because he keeps the relief corps rested.
Duquesne has 10 starts as a starter this season and has pitched a total of 72 games in that role (more than seven per start) with a pair of complete games, something that is rarely seen in baseball.
His mission this Wednesday is to stop the momentum of Piratas of La Isla at their Cristobal Labra headquarters and prevent a slip of his felines, who have two straight losses and five in the last 10 games.
The day before, the filibusteros, despite being sunk almost to the bottom of the standings, defeated them 5-2 and caused the Leones de Industriales to overtake them and displace them from fourth place in the standings.
To step up to the mound, they also announced experienced left-hander Yunier Gamboa, who has a 3-3 record and a career-high 6.52 ERA.
There are only two games left in the tournament and as has been the case for years in the domestic championships, the battle for tickets is very close.
With the exception of the Vegueros of Pinar del Río, who are on a runaway pace with 32 wins in 48 games and all their individual sub-series wins, any other team now resting in the top tier will have to row hard to reach the promised land of the post-season.
STARTERS FOR TODAY
Villa Clara-Pinar del Río (Alain Sánchez vs Mario Valle).
Las Tunas-Matanzas (Leandro Cañada vs Denis Quesada).
Industriales-Camagüey (José Ernesto Pérez vs Mario Marzo).
Artemisa-Holguín (Andy Luis Pérez vs Jesús Enrique Pérez).
Mayabeque-Granma (Yusdel Tuero vs Alexei Ricardo).
Sancti Spiritus-Santiago de Cuba (José Isaías Grandales vs Luis Ángel Torres).
Cienfuegos-Guantánamo (Alex Daniel Pérez vs Randi Salazar).
