After a historic start: The Tigers face their main deficiencies of the past
The five-run lead at the end of the ninth inning seemed enough, but the bullpen of the Tigres de Ciego de Ávila collapsed again: Yunier Batista allowed a single by Yoelkis Baró, a triple by Lázaro Dayán Pérez, and then walked Yoán Moreno.
After going through a five-game losing streak—four of them last week against Industriales—the Tigers reached the end of the seventh inning this Wednesday with an 8-1 lead against the Hunters. In his fourth start of the season, rookie Ediel Ponce scored a quality outing after allowing one earned run in six innings. However, when it seemed that the Tigers bullpen would not suffer the wear and tear it was subjected to last week, the nightmares began again.
Miranda had no choice but to activate his closer Yoan Carlos Díaz, who has been the most dominant reliever on the staff. Díaz allowed an RBI single by Carlos De La Tejera, which reduced the score to 8-5. With no outs, Osbel Pacheco grounded to shortstop, but a fielding error by first baseman Ronaldo Castillo could not complete the double play. The defense, another of the strengths that the Tigers exhibited in their first 15 games, failed again. Even so, Díaz overcame the tension of the moment: he dominated Rodmy Proenza in a fly ball to third and, after walking Osmel Solano, Dainel López delivered the last out with a fly ball to left.
With the success, Ciego de Ávila has a record of 17-7 (he returned to second place) and, most importantly, he stopped the chain of five setbacks in a row. Now, the big question here is if these Tigers are really prepared to maintain a winning pace in the second third of this regular season. The historic start with 16 victories in the first 18 games coached by Danny Miranda set a new record for debut managers, surpassing the 15-3 mark recorded by Estéban Lombillo with the Vaqueros del Habana in the 2004-2005 season.
During the streak, the Tigers faced three of the seven opponents that qualified for the playoffs last season. They beat the Toros in two games in the opening series, then defeated the Roosters by a 5-0 sweep, and the Crocodiles 4-1. The Tigres still have to face Pinar del Río, Las Tunas and Granma, three of the five most consistent teams at the start of the campaign. With the return of veteran right-hander Dachel Duquesne, the starting rotation has found a leader, but the Tigers need more durability and consistency. Until a week ago, the first results in this 63rd National Series had been encouraging, exceeding initial projections for a pitching staff that continued its renewal process.
Part of the chaos that unfolded last week against Industriales was due to rotation explosions: with the exception of Duquesne, no starter was able to stay on the mound for at least five innings. Of the five consecutive losses, the starters lost in four decisions, averaging 3 ⅓ innings of durability. Then the debacle continued, with Tigers relievers allowing 25 runs, 51% of the 49 the team allowed during the span of five straight losses.
Behind each explosion, the offense was also deficient, to the point of scoring just 18 runs, while the strikeouts (33) practically doubled the walk record (17). Yes, there were innings in which the disadvantages became practically insurmountable, but when two of the team's key hitters do not produce, the Tigers' offensive probabilities are reduced: Raúl González (12-2) and Osvaldo Vázquez (11-1) They combined to leave 20 of the 23 runners they found in scoring position in circulation.
Vázquez did not line up this Wednesday, and Raúl González went 0-for-5. The final result? Ciego de Ávila scored eight runs, five of them taking advantage of the Cazadores' defensive inaccuracies. In other words, in terms of offensive production, the Tigers would have lost the game with a score of 7-3. Of course, a lineup relies on nine hitters, and the Tigers have had consistent production from Liosvany Pérez, Héctor Labrada and Alexander Jiménez, but I guess sometimes you also need a little luck.
With one game left to complete the first third of the regular season, we will see if the Ciego de Ávila Tigers can remain in the elite.