I invite you to walk

If you have not been to the stadium, you will hardly believe some of the stories we have seen these days in the 63rd National Series of Cuban baseball. Listen to this: on Tuesday afternoon, the Matanzas Crocodiles scored six runs without putting the ball in play.

Six? Yes, six!... I know it sounds strange. And, of course, there can be several chances that a team scores six runs without putting the ball in play, but this time there was one cause in particular: Pinar del Río's pitchers threw nine walks in the beginning of the third inning , registering a new record in the National Series. NINE. NINE. The previous mark corresponded to the Metropolitanos pitchers, who threw seven consecutive walks on January 19, 2011 against Villa Clara.

That was stressful.*

*And speaking of those catastrophic endless innings, before continuing, I wanted to bring you more news about four bad balls, walks and hitters with the bat on their shoulders: Granma's pitching also lost the strike zone: they walked 10 opponents in three innings. Eight walks were thrown by starter Yunier Castillo, and then Kelbis Rodríguez walked two more batters before getting the three outs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Well, but the curious thing doesn't end there. Listen more: Industriales scored seven runs while collecting just one hit! No wonder, the game at the Latinoamericano stadium between Granma vs Industriales lasted 4 hours and two minutes. In the end, the Alazanes overcame the deficit with a four-run rally at the start of the ninth, and won 10-9. Yes, it was a wild 19-walk, 19-run game combined.

The Crocodiles' pinch hitter, Eduardo Parreira, walked twice in the inning that ninth hitter Adrián Pérez started.

This is how the key inning was triggered that Matanzas beat Pinar del Río 8-7:

9- Adrián Pérez (L) #10/SS: walked

1- Eduardo Parreira (R) #22/PH: walked

2- Moisés Esquerré (R) #77/3B: walked

3- Ariel Sánchez (L) #23/RF: hit a line drive out to the shortstop

4- José Amaury Noroña (R) #25/LF: walked, RBI

5- Yariel Duque (L) #19/1B: walked, RBI

6- Eduardo Blanco (R) #55/CF: walked, RBI

7- José De Jesús Prens (R) #66/DH: walked, RBI

8- Yeison Fernández (R) #3/C: hit a fly out to right field

9- Adrián Pérez (L) #10/SS: walked, RBI

1- Eduardo Parreira (R) #22/PH: he walked again!, RBI

2- Moisés Esquerré (R) #77/3B: forced out on a ground ball to the shortstop

Pinar del Río's pitchers lost control. Photo: Boris Luis Cabrera.

Pinar del Río used five pitchers in the inning: starter Jenier Álvarez, and relievers Gabriel Cantero, Mario Del Hoyo, Yanquiel Pérez, and Yosvany Martínez. The six-run rally practically suffocated the Vegueros in the game. When the inning began, Matanzas was losing 4-1, but with the six-run rally they took a practically decisive lead with a score of 7-4. The Crocodiles' run at the beginning of the fourth inning also occurred due to the lack of control of the pitchers: Martínez walked Noroña, who then stole second, reached third on a ground ball to the infield by Yariel Duque and scored with a single to left by Eduardo White.

If we are guided by walk rates, Pinar del Río has not been one of the most consistent teams, but it has registered a collective average of 4.5 BB/9, eighth in the ranking among all pitching staffs in this 63rd National Series.*

*The league average started this week at 4.6, and the rotations of Villa Clara (3.1), Camagüey (3.6) and Mayabeque (3.7) have been the most outstanding, while Matanzas (6.1) and Isla de la Juventud (7.6 ) accumulate the worst averages per nine innings.

Regardless of the overwhelming lack of control of the Pinar del Río pitchers this Tuesday, a controversial referee decision changed the game situation for the Vegueros at the end of the ninth. Pinch-runner Mario Sánchez tried to reach third and was called out. There were no television cameras to challenge the play, so Ricardo Campanioni's decision prevailed.

Literally, the Vegueros lost the opportunity to have placed the possible tying run on third, with one less out during the end of the ninth inning. That's baseball. And, of course, the fans of Pinar del Río ended up quite upset and rightly so, but the turning point in the defeat was inescapable: the third inning, where the Pinar del Río pitchers threw nine walks, sealed the game.

Even so, manager Alexander Urquiola's Vegueros finished Tuesday's day in first place in the standings with a 19-9 record, while Matanzas continues to try to recover and are now playing for .500 (14-14), occupying the the moment the eighth place.