Leaders Continue to Top Cuban Baseball Championship

HAVANA, Cuba, Oct 2 (acn) The Ciego de Avila and Industriales teams won their respective games, thus retaining, in that order, the first two seats in the Cuban baseball championship.

The Ciego de Avila Tigers defeated off Sancti Spiritus 2-1 in the 11th inning through a sacrifice fly by outfielder Jose Adolis Garcia that drove in Yorbis Borroto, while reliever Yunier Cano won when allowing three hits and an unearned run in four innings.
Meanwhile, Industriales beat Las Tunas 7-6 thanks mainly to homers by Yulieski Gourriel and Javier Camero. The winner was the also reliever Hector Ponce, while Yosvany Alarcón hit a home run by the losers.
Granma lost ground on the leaders by losing 2-4 to Cienfuegos, with the third win of the season for illustrious veteran Norberto Gonzalez and offensive highlight for second baseman Edel Tamayo, who drove in three runs.
Matanzas discounted disadvantage of six runs to walk off Santiago de Cuba7-6 in the tenth inning and thus added its fourth consecutive win, the highlight went to Yurisbel Gracial for the winners with a homer and two RBIs.
In addition, William Saavedra hit 2 for 4 with a double and four RBIs in the 7-5 win of Pinar del Rio over Guantanamo, while Artemisa beat 4-1 Isla de la Juventud, with two homers by Osmel Fraga and one to the ac count of Yosvani Peñalver.
Finally , Villa Clara won 4-2 over Camagüey with experienced first baseman Ariel Borrero hitting 3 for 5 with a homer and three RBIs , while Holguin defeated 5-0 Mayabeque in a match marked by solid pitching performance by starter Yusmel Velázquez.
After these results , Ciego de Avila leads the standings with balance of 19 wins and six losses, followed by Industriales (18-7), Granma (16-8), Pinar del Rio (15-8), Las Tunas (13-10), Villa Clara (14-11), Matanzas (13-11), Sancti Spiritus (13-12), Cienfuegos ( 11-11), Guantanamo (12-12), Isla de la Juventud (12-13), Holguin (11-14), Santiago de Cuba (10- 15), Artemisa (7-15), Camagüey (5-20) and Mayabeque (4-20).