Granma qualifies to second round of Cuban baseball

HAVANA, Cuba, Oct 11 (acn) Granma earned their direct qualification to the second round of the Cuban baseball championship, when combining their victory over Guantanamo with Holguin´s defeat to the leader Matanzas.

In the continuation of the pending matches of the qualifying phase, Granma won 9-4 and completed the sweep in the subseries over the Guantanamo Indians.
The winner Cesar Garcia allowed one hit and struck out two batters in three and two-thirds innings of solid relief, and was offensively supported by outfielder Agustin Arias, who hit 4 for 4 with a homer, a double and two RBIs.
With balance of 27 wins and 17 losses, Granma was ratified in the third seat of the standings and secured the direct ticket to the next phase of the Cuban baseball classic, along with the Matanzas (41-3) and Ciego de Avila (29-16).
The Matanzas Crocodiles extended their winning streak when beating 7-3 Holguin, with catcher Ariel Martinez batting 2 for 4 with a homer and two RBIs to support the performance by starter Jonder Martínez, who got his seventh win of the season.
Holguin finished the qualifying stage with a 26-19 balance, immersed in a closed race for the last direct berth with Villa Clara (25-18), which lost 2-1 the subseries between them and should win their two pending games over Granma and Las Tunas for their inclusion in the leading quartet.
Las Tunas fed their qualifying options by defeating 2-1 Santiago de Cuba, with veteran Ubisney Bermudez as winner and runs driven in Yordan Calaña and Ernesto Lalana.
With Camagüey (24-21) ranking at this moment in the sixth seat, Guantánamo (23-21), Las Tunas (22-21) and Isla de la Juventud (23-22) are struggling to be included in a spot from fifth to eighth for ensure at least the possibility of seeking a ticket to the second phase through the playoff series.
On Wednesday, the pending matches of the qualifying stage will continue with the program Matanzas-Guantanamo, Las Tunas-Mayabeque and Villa Clara-Granma, always at home of those mentioned first, according to the schedule issued by the National Baseball Directorate.