HAVANA, Cuba, Mar 10 (acn) The monarch Pinar del Río remained at three games of the qualifying area to the Cuban baseball playoffs, despite defeating the leader Matanzas with a score of 4-1.
Livan Moinelo starred exceptional relief by limiting the Matanzas Crocodiles´ offensive to just one hit with four strikeouts in five innings for his sixth win of the campaign, supported by catcher Olber Peña, author of a solo homer.
The disciples of Alfonso Urquiola achieved their 41st win of the season with 38 defeats, still behind their two rivals in the struggle for accessing to the semifinals, Industriales (44-35) and Isla de la Juventud (42-37), teams that also won in their respective matches.
Industriales took hold in the fourth place -last seat earning a ticket to postseason- by beating 8-2 Holguin, with the seventh win of veteran Frank Monthiet, and offensive highlight by Rudy Reyes with a homer and two RBIs.
In turn, Isla de la Juventud returned to winning ways after suffering six defeats in line by defeating 16-8 Granma, with offensive prominence of first baseman Luis Felipe Rivera, who hit two doubles and drove in four runs, while Urmani Guerra took off a homer for the defeated squad.
Ciego de Ávila took advantage of Granma´s loss to climb to second seat in the standings, after walking off 5-4 Artemisa with decisive three-run homer by Jose Adonis Garcia in the ninth inning off the closer Jose Angel García.
Matanzas , only team that already won its ticket to the postseason, continues to lead the Cuban baseball championship with 51 wins and 28 losses, followed by Ciego de Avila and Granma (47-32), sides virtually secured to the decisive stage of the contest.
Industriales (44-35), Isla de la Juventud (42-37) and the current monarch Pinar del Río (41-38) are struggling for the fourth ticket to the semifinals, while Artemisa (37-42) and Holguin (35-44) only try not to be relegated to the last seat of the standings.
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