The post-season of the LXIII National Baseball Series begins today with the clashes between Pinar del Rio-Sancti Spiritus at the Capitan San Luis Stadium and Santiago de Cuba-Industriales at the mythical Guillermon Moncada Stadium.
The Vegueros of the westernmost of the provinces, leaders of the qualifying phase with 50 wins and undefeated in their private duels will try to impose their favouritism today from 2.00 p.m. against a team that although they finished in eighth place in the standings, won 19 of their last 25 games.
History also favours Alexander Urquiola’s team with an impressive record of 10 National Series titles and only one against their rivals, achieved 45 years ago.
The two teams have met six times in the playoffs with four wins for the Pinareños, who have achieved 20 successes in 34 challenges.
For Pinar del Río, left-hander Branlis Rodríguez will take the mound, a pitcher who was 5-1 on the season with a 4.11 ERA, and for Sancti Spiritus, Yohannys Hernández, who had seven wins and three losses with a 3.81 ERA, has been named.
At 6.30 p.m., the Avispas from Santiago and the Leones from the capital will take the field in a highly anticipated duel due to the historic rivalry between these teams and the parity on the field.
The Easterners, fourth in the regular season, defeated the Havana side (fifth) in three of the five matches they played this season and have a thorn in their side from last year when they lost to them in the semi-finals.
It will be the first time they have met in the quarter-finals, but in post-seasons they have done so on 32 occasions, with 17 wins for Guillermo Carmona’s Blues, who are the top winners in national tournaments with 12 crowns, to eight for their opponents.
The hosts will rely on the veteran Danny Betancourt (6-1), second in the tournament in efficiency (2.60 ERA) and ERA (1.22), and the visitors on Andy Vargas (7-4), fourth in those departments with 2.81 and 1.27, respectively.
2024-06-27 17:22:40
#Cuban #baseball #postseason #begins #Radio #Surco
