Matanzas and Pinar del Rio 2-2 in semifinal of Cuban baseball

HAVANA, Cuba, Mar 31 (acn) Pinar del Rio beat 7-6 Matanzas to tie to two wins apiece one of the semifinal play offs of the Cuban baseball championship in its 55th edition.

William Saavedra led Pinar del Rio´s offensive with two home runs and four RBIs, supported by DH Donal Duarte, author of a homer and two RBIs, while Danger Guerrero also hit a homer by the losing side.
Right-hander Erlis Casanova starred a solid opening of five innings during which he only allowed three hits and one earned run, although the win went to Yosvani Torres as reliever, while Ramon Licor took the loss.
Pinar del Rio was ahead 3-0 in the sixth inning, thanks mainly to Saavedra, but Matanzas managed to tie the sore off reliever Livan Moinelo and added another run in the seventh driven in by shortstop Jordan Manduley taking thus the lead.
Then Pinar del Rio retook the lead by scoring thrice in the bottom of the seventh, thanks to homers by Duarte and Saavedra, but the disciples of Victor Mesa tied in the eighth through a two-run homer by Guerrero.
The decisive run for the local side came in the eighth through Reidel Alvarez, who hit a single as PH, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Dennis Laza, reached third base thanks to a fielder choice play and scored on a wild pitch by reliever Alexander Rodriguez.
With the semi-final play off matched to two wins apiece, both teams will face each other today again at Capitan San Luis stadium, in Pinar del Rio, where the local squad will depend on its ace Yosvani Torres, while Matanzas coaching staff could send Freddy Asiel Alvarez to the mound.