HAVANA, Cuba, Jan 19 (acn) Granma achieved its eighth consecutive victory in the Cuban baseball championship by beating 6-3 the current monarch Pinar del Río, to complete the sweep and maintained the siege of the top.
Urmani Guerra and Lazaro Cedeno drove in two runs per capita to lead Granma's offensive, while Juan Ramón Olivera won the match in relief role, and the ace Freddy Asiel Alvarez took the loss despite admitting no earned runs in six innings of work.
Granma thus reached 37 wins with 20 losses in the season to consolidate itself second in the standings, just two games behind the leader Matanzas (39-18), who defeated 12-4 Isla de la Juventud.
Rookie Ariel Martinez homered as pinch hitter and drove in three runs to highlight in the Crocodiles´ attack, along with third baseman Jefferson Delgado and DH Yadiel Hernández, with two RBIs per capita.
Reliever Ramón Licor allowed five hits and one earned run in five innings to reach his fourth win of the campaign, while Ulfrido García was the defeated pitcher.
Industriales escaped the sweep by winning 10-6 over Ciego de Ávila with overwhelming offensive of 16 hits, including homers by veterans Carlos Tabares and Rudy Reyes, to support Frank Monthiet´s solid pitching performance.
Holguín defeated 4-1 Artemisa to also avoid the sweep, in match marked by strong performance from starter Carlos Santiesteban, who allowed just three hits and one earned run in seven innings, supported by Oscar del Rosario, who hit 2 for 4 with an RBI and two runs scored.
Matanzas ( 39-18) and Granma (37-20) are now escorted by Industriales (32-25) and Isla de la Juventud (31-26), while Artemisa, Pinar del Rio and Ciego de Avila are tied with balance of 30-27, and Holguin (27-30) appears in the bottom of the standings.
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