Industriales ties play-offs, Granma takes the lead over Matanzas

HAVANA, Cuba, Jan 9 (acn) Industriales beat away 12-5 Las Tunas thus tying 1-1 their semifinal playoff, while Granma, defending monarch, went ahead 2-1 in their series when winning 7-2 over Matanzas in the postseason of the 57th Cuban National Baseball Series,
Industriales took the lead in the very first frame thanks to a 3-run homer by 2B Juan Torriente, but the local squad starred a comeback and in the bottom of the fourth they were ahead 5-4.

But then, Las Tunas´ relieving staff didn´t do it well when in the 7th inning Industriales scored thrice with highlight to a 2-RBI single by PH Yordanis Samon, to then score 5 more runs in the 8 th, including Alexander Malleta´s grand-slam.
Reliever Elder Nodal earned the win after pitching 1.1 scoreless innings.
Torriente was Industriales´ best batter when hitting 2 for 4 with 3 RBIs, although 1B Malleta drove in 5 runs despite only batting 1 for 5.
Meanwhile, Granma won at home mainly supported on the good performance of starter Alain Sanchez, who took the win when allowing only two runs and six hits, including a 2-run homer by CF Eduardo Blanco, in seven innings.
There were offensive highlight to 1B Guillermo Aviles, who batted 3 for 4 with a double and one RBI, and 2B Carlos Benitez (2 for 4 with 3 RBIs) for the winning side, while right-hander Dachel Duquesne took the loss.