Matanzas hosts first game of playoffs in National Series

HAVANA, Cuba, Mar 24 (acn) The Matanzas Crocodiles will face today at home the Isla de la Juventud Pirates in the beginning of the first semifinal series of the 54th Cuban baseball championship.

After leading the standings virtually throughout the regular season, those coached by Victor Mesa reach the postseason as heavy favorites to beat the Pirates and access for the third year to the Grand Final.

The crocodiles yearn to conquer the highest award more than any other team in the Cuban baseball, after losing two consecutive years in the title dispute, first to Villa Clara and later against Pinar del Río.

Matanzas qualified without great difficulty to the decisive stage of the championship by leading the standings with 55 wins and 32 losses, and its performance was almost always to rise despite suffering throughout the tournament sensitive losses of their key figures.

Isla de la Juventud (49-38) reach ed the semifinals after overcoming numerous obstacles, including the complicated final subseries as a visitor against Industriales, team they eliminated by an unexpected sweep, along with the ex champion Pinar del Rio.

Perhaps the statistics favor this time to Matanzas, winner of seven of the nine matches between them during the campaign, but the Pirates get very inspired to play offs, and belittling them could be the biggest mistake of their rivals.

Matanzas´ Victoria de Girón stadium will host today the first match of Cuban baseball postseason with a possible duel between lefty Yoanni Yera and right-handed Yoalkis Cruz, summoned from Las Tunas this year to strengthen the ultramarine squad.

Yera stood out among Victor Mesa's major trump cards with 12 wins and six losses, with an ERA of 3.43 and 101 strikeouts in 112.2 innings.

Meanwhile, Yoalkis Cruz did not have his best season when having a 4.70 ERA with wins and losses balance of 7-7, but the experience gained in previous postseason with Las Tunas and Matanzas as reinforcement may influence on his choosing to start the crucial match.

The other semifinal of Cuban baseball championship will begin on Wednesday at Martires de Barbados Stadium in the city of Bayamo, headquarters of Granma, which will host the Ciego de Avila Tigers in a very difficult to predict series.