Cuban Baseball: Alazanes Shake Up the Race in the East

The Alazanes de Granma defeated the Avispas de Santiago de Cuba 6-2 today and closed the gap in the Eastern Zone of the 65th National Baseball Series.

At the Guillermón Moncada, the Granma squad found the formula to contain the leaders of the division and deliver a blow that tightened the battle for the top spots, with a victory built on 11 hits and four errors by the local defense.

Ernesto Pérez put his signature on the visiting offense with a home run, while José Rodríguez and Juan Danilo Pérez shared responsibility from the mound to pave the way to success, with Yosmel Garcés as the losing pitcher.

The day also brought a turnaround in the streak of the Vegueros de Pinar del Río, who after eight straight victories fell 7-8 to the Cazadores de Artemisa in a back-and-forth clash with abundant offensive power.

Andy Cosme, Dainel López, and Dayan García went deep for Artemisa, while Jorge Yoan Rojas and Lester Benítez responded for the Pinar del Río squad, the latter with a grand slam, his sixth home run of the campaign.

In another standout episode, veteran closer José Ángel García raised his historic record of saves in national championships to 336, a figure that extends his mark on Cuban baseball.

Las Tunas also celebrated by defeating Camagüey 13-6, with home runs from Héctor Quintero, while the Piratas de La Isla beat Industriales 5-3, supported by the pitching performance of Ángel Herrera, a decisive double by Misael Cañete with the bases loaded, and a home run by Alexander Almarales.

Mayabeque needed to squeeze its offense to overcome Cienfuegos 11-10, a result that gave pitcher Jonatan Gasulla his third win without losses and rookie Osbiel Fernández his fourth save, reaching the top of that department.

For its part, Sancti Spíritus defeated Ciego de Ávila 6-4 in a game whose outstanding note was Frederich Cepeda's 399th home run in national tournaments, increasingly close to a round number in his long career.

Rain prevented the matchup between Holguín and Guantánamo, in addition to forcing the sealing of the game between Matanzas and Villa Clara when the Villa Clara squad led 10-1 in the third inning.

With these outcomes, Pinar del Río retains the western lead with a record of eight wins and two losses, followed by Matanzas (6-3), while Cienfuegos, Industriales, Artemisa, and Mayabeque share the next step with 5-5; Villa Clara stands at 3-6 and La Isla closes at 2-8. In the East, Santiago de Cuba remains at the top with 7-3, although Granma, Ciego de Ávila, and Sancti Spíritus lurk with 6-4; Holguín shows 5-4, Las Tunas displays 5-5, Camagüey accumulates 3-7, and Guantánamo occupies the last place with 1-8.