Industriales, Sancti Spíritus, and Matanzas won on Wednesday.

A pair of works deserving of high marks by Industriales and Sancti Spíritus’ starters enlivened this Wednesday the start of the fourth sub-series of the II Elite League of Cuban Baseball.

At the Latin American Park in this city, the Leones took the lead in the tournament with a 5×0 victory over Las Tunas, a game sealed by catcher Oscar Valdés with a grand slam in the eighth inning.

Starter Reemberto Barreto (7.0IP, 3H, 5K) ratified his unbeaten record in three decisions, helped by Frank Herrera and Juan Xavier Peñalver, who also gave up no tickets in the final two innings.

In the fifth inning, shortstop Luis Vicente Mateo put the Blue Jays ahead by hitting a run-scoring home run against pitcher Branlis Rodríguez, who made a quality start but suffered his third winless loss of the tournament.

Sancti Spíritus also maintained its position as runner-up in the standings, after defeating Santiago de Cuba (10×0), a team that has lost four in a row.

Pitcher Ariel Zerquera (6.1IP, 6H, 9K, 1BB) signed the other outstanding performance of the day, especially due to the almost ten opponents retired by strikes. He has a 3-2 record in the league.

At bat, second-pad defender Juan Miguel Martínez (4-3, 4CI) led the 14-strikeout attack, which also included home runs by Fréderich Cepeda and Duniesky Barroso.

Artemisa and Matanzas reached the sixth inning with a six-run tie, when the Crocodiles’ shortstop, José Noroña, drove in his team’s seventh run with a sacrifice fly, giving the victory to reliever Haykel Parra and a save to Armando Dueñas.

Waiter and first baseman Anibal Medina hit 6-3 and drove in four runs for the winners, while Luis Gonzalez fired an RBI for the Cazadores.

Industriales (9-4) and Sancti Spíritus (7-5) retained the top spots in the standings, which have Matanzas (6-6) in third place, Artemisa (6-7) in fourth and Las Tunas and Santiago de Cuba (5-8) in last place.