Cuba wins the opening game of the Caribbean Baseball Series 2023

Agricultores de Cuba beat Wildcats KJ74 of Curacao, three runs to one, in the opening game of the Caribbean Baseball Series 2023, reports Prensa Latina news agency in Caracas, Venezuela.

A single to right field by Guillermo Avilés with Rafael Viñales on second (tie-breaker rule), and a bases-loaded walk to Yuniesky Larduet defined the game in the tenth inning.

The two runs were scored by reliever and loser Shairon Martis, although it was Wendell Floranus who forced the last run.

Starters Cody Mincey and César García engaged in a nice duel, in which they completed seven innings, with five hits allowed, four strikeouts without tickets for the former; and three and three for the latter.

Sharlon Schoop scored the first run of the game in the fifth inning, driven in by Darren Seferina's ground ball to second, after getting to third on another hit by Andrelton Simmons.

Martis took over the box for the Wildcats and received the tying run on a home run by the torpedo Andres De La Cruz in the eighth, while Andy Vargas assumed the same role for Agricultores.

For the ninth, Cuban manager Carlos Martí sent Joel Mojena to the mound, who tolerated a single and completed the job in the ninth, without further incident.

Ray-Patrick Didder was Curaçao's best hitter, 4-2, while for Cuba the most outstanding was Yosvany Alarcón (4-3).

The champion of the recently inaugurated Cuban Elite League exhibited a powerful offense in the domestic competition, in which it was practically unrivaled, but it was not so at the Jorge Luis García Carneiro stadium in the city of La Guaira.

However, they managed to prevail with good pitching to win the game.