HAVANA, Cuba, Oct 20 (acn) Granma defeated Villa Clara 2-0 and got its ticket to the second stage of the 57th Cuban National Baseball Series, while Artemisa beat 2-1 Ciego de Avila thus equalizing 1-1 their wild-card series.
Lefty Leandro Martinez got the win by being responsible of the shutout only allowing 4 hits and became himself the decisive player of the series as he also earned the save of the previous game and pitched 12 scoreless innings in the two matches.
Granma batted seven hits but also took advantage of the six walks conceded by Villa Clara´s starter and loser Alain Sanchez.
Meanwhile, in the other wild-card match, Artemisa managed to tie the series mainly thanks to the performance of Miguel Lahera who pitched seven scoreless innings and lefty reliever Geonel Gonzalez, who earned the win.
Artemisa´s ace reliever Jose Angel Garcia came in the eighth frame and had a terrible performance when leaving the box with the bases loaded, then Gonzalez came in and only allowed an RBI groundout.
Catcher Andy Cosme was offensively essential for the winners when scoring his team´s first run after hitting a double and driving in the second one with a sacri-fly.
Today we will know which of these squads advances to the second phase of the tournament, in which there already included Industriales, Las Tunas, Matanzas, Pinar del Rio and Granma.
Right hander Yander Guevara should be Ciego de Ávila´s starting pitcher, while Misael Villa could be Artemisa´s starter.
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