Game 5: Lethal blow

Final Series of the II Elite Cuban Baseball League

Game 5. Matanzas and Artemisa arrived tied 2-2 and with their main aces as openers. The left-handed duel was announced: Yoenis Yera for the Crocodiles, and Geonel Gutiérrez for the Hunters.

Gutiérrez was coming off a decent start in Game 1, when he allowed four runs (one unearned) in six innings. Yera, for his part, pitched five innings in Game 1, but it was far from his usual consistency: he struck out just two opponents, allowing eight hits and four runs. In that Game 1, the durability of both starters was key, although later the Crocodiles bullpen was more consistent and stopped the Hunters' attack. However, this time the Gutiérrez vs Yera duel did not go beyond the second inning. The Crocodiles put pressure on Gutiérrez, who allowed nine bases and three runs in just 1 ⅔ innings.

The lineup changes worked for manager Armando Ferrer, who replaced Rusney Castillo (he was playing with an injury and had hit just 2-for-13 with no RBI in this final), activated Alexander Pozo as the second hitter, and moved Erisbel Arruebarena in the fifth turn, followed by Eduardo Blanco. The results came at the beginning of the second inning, precisely when the hitters in the middle of the lineup came to the plate. Yordanis Samón and Arruebarena opened the second inning with singles. And then, Blanco drove in the first run with a single to center field.

The inning gave for more, as José Amaury Noroña walked to load the bases, but Geonel managed to get out of trouble: he struck out Andrys Pérez with a fastball in the low outside corner. And then Ariel Sánchez hit a ground ball into a double play on the first pitch.

In the bottom of the second inning, Frederich Cepeda hit a game-tying solo home run, but Yera maintained control over the Hunters' lineup. After the score was tied 1-1, the third inning was key for the Crocodiles. After the fateful second inning, Gutiérrez failed to recover. He led off the third inning by allowing singles by Yordan Manduley and Alexander Pozo. Then, to the surprise of many, the Crocodiles' most fearsome hitter, Yurisbel Gracial, sacrificed himself with a bunt, giving Gutiérrez a small sigh.*