Cuban Baseball Series: Industriales in Danger of a Shipwreck

HAVANA, Cuba, Oct 4 (acn) After losing again to Isla de la Juventud, thus adding its fifth loss in line, Industriales will seek a win today that can keep them alive in the Cuban baseball championship, in a day marked by the closing of the qualifying stage.

Protagonists of a spectacular comeback in the closing stages of the first round of the event, the Pirates were ratified in the seventh position of standings when beating 6-2 Industriales, beleaguered by the ghost of the elimination.
Reliever Pedro Luis Guzman allowed only three hits and one earned run in six innings and two thirds of work from the mound to lead the win of the buccaneers, with offensive highlight of third baseman Roberto Acebedo, who hit 3 for 4 with two RBIs.
Today, Ciego de Avila, second in the standings, will try to earn the direct qualification to the next stage, after losing yesterday to Villa Clara with a score of 7-3 in the match marked by the fourth win of Freddy Asiel Alvarez, offensively supported by Yeniet Perez, 3 for 5 with three RBIs.
Holguin lost 7-1 Sunday's sealed game to Mayabeque, but won the second match 8-5 to retain fourth spot in the standings, thanks mainly to the batting performance of Yeison Pacheco and Jorge Luis Peña, author of two RBIs per capita.
Camagüey got an important 9-6 victory over Artemisa, with homers by Humberto Bravo, Alexander Ayala and Dariel Aviles, while the leader, Matanzas, maintained its victorious course when defeating Sancti Spiritus twice (4-3 and 10-0).
Finally, Pinar del Rio was virtually eliminated from the fight to access to the next phase by suffering a costly 9-3 loss to Cienfuegos, with highlight to DH Richel Perez, who hit 2 for 5 with a triple and three RBIs for the winning side.
After these results, Matanzas leads the National Baseball Series with 39 wins and only 3 losses, followed by Ciego de Avila (28-16), Granma (24-17), Holguin (23-17), Villa Clara (22-17), Guantanamo (23-18), Isla de la Juventud (22-19), Camagüey (23-20), Las Tunas (20-20), Industriales (21-22), Pinar del Río (17-22), Cienfuegos (18-26), Artemisa (17-27), Santiago de Cuba (13-28), Sancti Spiritus (13-30) and Mayabeque (10-31).