Ciego de Avila stays on top of Cuban baseball national series

HAVANA, Cuba, Sep 28 (acn) Ciego de Avila was ratified on top of the Cuban National Baseball Championship with balance of 17 wins and five losses, after beating Santiago de Cuba 3-1 on Sunday in a day marked by the suspension of four matches.

The right-hander Vladimir Garcia allowed one earned run and seven hits with six strikeouts in seven innings to lead the Ciego de Avila Tigers to victory, with offensive highlight for second baseman Raul Gonzalez, author of two solo homers.

Meanwhile, Matanzas broke its string of five consecutive losses by defeating 8-1 Sancti Spiritus, with attack of 16 hits, including a homer by Anibal Medina, while veteran Jonder Martínez achieved his fourth win of the season.

Las Tunas reached an important win 6-3 over Villa Clara in a match where catcher Yosvany Alarcón hit two home runs for the winners.

Finally, the starting pitcher Jose Ramon Rodriguez allowed only four hits and struck out seven in eight innings to guide Camagüey to a 6-0 victory over Guantanamo, with offensive highlight by catcher Ermindo Escobar, 3 for 4 with a homer and two runs scored .

Industriales was beating Holguin 3-1 in the third inning when the game was suspended because of the rain and the same happened with the matches Pinar del Rio vs. Mayabeque, Artemisa-Cienfuegos and Isla de la Juventud-Granma, always at home of the firsts .
After these results, Ciego de Avila (17-5) appears on top of the standings, followed by Granma (15-5), Industriales (14-7), Pinar del Rio and Las Tunas (12-8), Sancti Spiritus (13- 9), Villa Clara (12-10), Holguin, Isla de la Juventud, Matanzas, Cienfuegos and Guantanamo (10-11), Santiago de Cuba (9-13), Artemisa (6-15), Camagüey (5-17) and Mayabeque (4-17).