Defending champion loses in Cuban baseball

HAVANA, Cuba, Dec 21 (acn) Isla de la Juventud reacted in the Cuban baseball championship and achieved its first victory in the second round of the event when beating 6-4 the monarch and current leader Ciego de Avila.

Lefty Wilber Perez allowed four hits and two earned runs in five innings to reach his eighth win of the season, supported by save of Danny Aguilera, while Vladimir Garcia took the loss.
Dainier Galvez drove in two runs for the cause of the winners, and Julio Pablo Martinez, Ariel Hechevarría and Jordanys Acebal drove in one each, while José Adolis Garcia homered by the defeated.
Yordanis Samon, Carlos Benitez and Maykel Castellanos, reinforcement from Santiago de Cuba, -the latter with three RBIs- hit a home run per capita in Granma's 8-7 win over Industriales.
Rookie Joel Mojena made a solid relief during three innings allowing two hits and one earned run, although the winner was the closer Juan Ramón Olivera, while Hector Ponce took the loss and Yuliesky Gourriel hit a homer by the losing squad .
The matches Las Tunas-Matanzas and Holguin-Pinar del Rio were suspended by rain in the eastern region.
After those results, Ciego de Avila appears on top of the standings with balance of 34 wins and 15 losses, escorted by Industriales (32-18), Granma ( 31-19), Las Tunas ( 30-19), Pinar del Rio (29-19), Matanzas ( 29-20), Holguin (27-22) and Isla de la Juventud (26-24).