HAVANA, Cuba, Apr 4 (acn) Pinar del Rio beat 3-2 Matanzas in the seventh game of the semifinal playoffs, and will challenge the current monarch Ciego de Avila in the series for the title of the Cuban baseball championship in its 55 th edition.
Decisive homer by catcher Yosvani Alarcón in the ninth and dramatic relief by ace Yosvani Torres catapulted Pinar del Rio to the final of the national baseball classic for the third time in the last six seasons.
With the match tied at two, Alarcon hit a solo homer off Alexander Rodriguez to silence the stands of Victoria de Giron stadium.
Meanwhile, Torres took the win by allowing one unearned run and three hits in six and two thirds innings as reliever.
Winner for the third time in this postseason, Yosvani Torres went to work in the third inning to replace starter Erlis Casanova, who left the mound after allowing seven hits and one earned run in two and a third innings.
Pinar del Rio was losing 2-0 in the sixth inning when they managed to score once through William Saavedra, who reached second base thanks to an error by center fielder Eduardo Blanco, and later he scored driven in by hit of Yordanis Alarcon, only run allowed by Matanzas´ starting pitcher Freddy Asiel Alvarez.
In the seventh inning Alvarez was replaced by Jose Angel Garcia, who allowed the tying run on consecutive singles by Yosvani Alarcon and Saavedra, combined with sacrifice fly by Lazaro Emilio Blanco.
Alexander Rodriguez came in then and showed a strong performance with five strikeouts against eight batters, but after two outs in the ninth he allowed Alarcon´s decisive homer which catapulted Pinar del Rio again to the final after two years.
Matanzas reached their stadium of Victoria de Giron with a 3-2 lead in the semi-final play off, but failed in their efforts to achieve at least a win and again lost in semifinals for the second consecutive year.
The last time Pinar del Rio played for the title was in the 2013-2014 season, occasion in which they beat the Matanzas Crocodiles, who have always climbed the podium since the 2011-12 season, but have never been able to win the crown.
In a rematch of the final of the 2010-11 season, Pinar del Rio will challenge for the top prize the current monarch Ciego de Avila, team that guaranteed its presence in the dispute of the scepter for the second consecutive year, after sweeping 4- 0 Industriales in semifinals.
Nos reservamos el derecho de no publicar los comentario que incumplan con las normas de este sitio