Cuba beats Panama at 5th World Baseball Classic and keeps its hopes alive

HAVANA, Cuba, Mar 10 (ACN) With a powerful offense of 21 hits, Cuba beat Panama 13-4, obtained its first victory and stayed alive at the 5th World Baseball Classic in Group A at the Taichung Intercontinental Stadium, in Taipei, China.

With batting, starter Yadil Drake stood out, who went 4-4 with a pair of RBIs, being placed in the eighth inning of the "new" lineup designed by mentor Armando Jhonson to break the adverse streak of two consecutive defeats.

The Cubans also praised their middle infielder, ninth baseman Yadil Mujica, who hit 5-3, including a home run and four runs. Those 21 hits are a record for a Cuban team in the history of the World Baseball Classic.

Cuba decided the game with bunches of four and five runs in the sixth and seventh innings, in that order, in order to hold its breath in this competition and wait for what happens in the remaining games of the group to see if there is a tie among several teams and seek to advance to the quarterfinals as determined by the TQB (Team Qualifying Balance).

In this duel, and in search of greater offensive productivity, mentor Jhonson made very fruitful changes in the lineup. He benched left fielder Yoennis Cespedes and catcher Lorenzo Quintana, and replaced them with Roel Santos and Ariel Martinez.

In its last game of the qualifying phase, the Cuban team will play tomorrow against host Taipei of China.