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As has happened almost every day in this 63rd National Series of Cuban baseball, the teams have not stopped scoring runs. In eight games this Wednesday, a combined 104 runs were scored. The reasons were obvious: in six of the eight games the winning team scored at least 10 runs.

Last Tuesday, when several of the top rotation pitchers would start for each team, 75 runs were scored in eight games. The next day, this Wednesday, 29 more were signed up. What do we expect for Thursday? Yes, many more races. Of course, depending on the pitching matchups, there may be some surprises, but here's what the odds show:

• Games where the winning team has scored three runs or less: 41

• Games where the winning team has finished with an advantage of at least 10 races: 74

Simply put, the chances of games ending with big scores have not failed during this regular season: just 8.1% of games have been led by pitching, while 14.6% have resulted in a knockout.

However, not all teams have been able to be successful in high-running games. And, curiously, Wednesday's matchday revealed in the same challenge who has been the best and worst team this season. You had probably suspected something: the Alazanes de Granma defeated the Pirates by knockout twice, 11-0 and 13-0 at the Mártires de Barbados stadium. With those two victories, Granma became the first team this season with 10 victories in games where they finished with an advantage of at least 10 runs against their opponents.

The Alazanes have a 10-1 record, and took two wins ahead of Pinar del Río, which had an 8-2 record in those games. Now Granma is three successes away from equaling the team's record, which was 13 victories under the command of manager Carlos Martí in the 60th National Series. That is the positive point in this situational context of high-running games, but here is the negative: the Pirates lost their 14th game of this season by a difference of at least 10 runs.

14 defeats? Yes, but this is the worst: they have not won any high-running games. He has a record of 0-14 and a differential of minus-176.

So, I did a little research on this Pirates chaos and this is what I found: They are one loss away from the worst record in games lost by at least 10 runs.

Worst records for games lost by at least 10 runs in a season:

• 42 National Series: Guantanamo (0-15), manager Yamil Momblanc, minus-168 run differential

• 49 National Series: Isla de la Juventud (0-14), manager Armando Johnson, minus-157 run differential

• 60 National Series: Artemisa (0-12), manager Manuel Vigoa, minus-147 run differential

As you can see, the history of the Pirates of the 49th Series was repeated, and another defeat would make them the most losing team along with Guantánamo. Either way, so far this season's Pirates have had the worst run differential (minus-176), and much of the problem hasn't just been their highly vulnerable pitching: They've scored just 22 runs in 14 games lost. for high careers.

The Pirates have combined for seven of those games with one or no runs: they have been shut out four times, and in three other games, the team has scored a run. These have been all the results:

1. Sunday, March 10, 2024: IND 11, IJV 1

2. Tuesday, March 12, 2024: ART 13, IJV 2

3. Sunday, March 17, 2024: ART 11, IJV 1

4. Saturday, April 27, 2024: MTZ 17, IJV 0

5. Saturday, May 4, 2024: PRI 19, IJV 1

6. Sunday, May 5, 2024: PRI 14, IJV 2

7. Friday, May 10, 2024: VCL 16, IJV 6

8. Thursday, May 23, 2024: CFG 17, IJV 2

9. Saturday, May 25, 2024: CFG 15, IJV 0

10. Sunday, May 26, 2024: CFG 16, IJV 2

11. Saturday, June 1, 2024: MAY 12, IJV 2

12. Sunday, June 2, 2024: MAY 13, IJV 3

13. Wednesday, June 5, 2024: GRA 11, IJV 0

14. Wednesday, June 5, 2024: GRA 13, IJV 0

The Pirates have a 19-40 record, and are in last place in this 63rd National Series of Cuban baseball. Photo: Yadrian Rivero.

This long list represents 35% of the Pirates' 40 losses this season, a percentage that is well above the 21.8% recorded in the 49th National Series—where they played 90 games. In two games, the Alazanes have hit .409 with 24 runs in 8 ⅔ innings on offense against the Pirates' pitchers. Of the 18 hits, nine have been extra bases, five doubles and four home runs, including a walk-off home run by Raico Santos in Game 1 of the doubleheader, two by Guillermo Avilés in Game 2, and the 18th by Alfredo Despaigne, who continues to lead the league in home runs this year.

It will be quite difficult for this season to tie the record of the 48th National Series (2008-2009 season), where in 119 games the winning teams finished with an advantage of at least 10 runs over their opponents. But, seeing the percentage where it is going, it is very likely that in the end we will have one of the seasons with the most high-running games.

I don't think that, in a league where the average pitcher's fastball ranges between 80-83 mph, pitching can be the protagonist. So let's expect an eminently offensive postseason. Yes, we still have many races to see and some markers announcing the knockout.