Playoffs Races, Junio 9

We continue with our countdown in this final stretch of the regular season. I don't know if you were aware, but it was a pretty hectic day. So, welcome to the action this Sunday!

Winners who advanced

—Gallos de Sancti Spíritus (beat Camagüey 9-5)

Amid the disaster the Bulls have experienced during the second half of the season, this seemed like good news after losing for the 16th time in their last 19 games: They had played 8-5 on Sundays. Especially in the midst of this losing streak, that was the most encouraging number. However, after opening with a 3-0 lead this Sunday, the Bulls lost control of the game when the Gallos scored a six-run rally at the top of the sixth inning.

Daniel González homered against rookie Giorvis López, and then Frederich Cepeda welcomed reliever Félix Guerrero with a three-run homer. The Toros tried to react, but the only swing that could do damage was that of Rafael Álvarez, who hit a solo home run opening the end of the sixth inning against reliever Yankiel Mauris. And then, at the beginning of the eighth inning with two outs, the rain arrived at the José Antonio Huelga stadium and put an end to the story. Sancti Spíritus completed the five-game sweep and has surprisingly climbed to the qualification zone. The Bulls? They have lost 17 of their last 20 games, and ended the week dropping to 13th in the standings with seven games under .500 (30-37).

With a record of 33-34, the Gallos have a one-game advantage over Artemisa and Guantánamo, whom they beat in this year's series by 3-2 and 4-1, respectively. The Gallos' next rival will be the Holguín Cubs, who have lost seven of their last 10 games and closed this week in 15th place in the standings.

Standings

1- Pinar Del Río (44-23) | Last 10 games: (6-4) | Streak: W-1

2- Las Tunas (40-22) | Last 10 games: (8-2) | Streak: W-2

3- Granma (43-24) | Last 10 games: (8-2) | Streak: W-7

4- Santiago De Cuba (39-28) | Last 10 games: (8-2) | Streak: L-1

5- Industriales (37-30) | Last 10 games: (3-7) | Streak: L-2

6- Ciego De Ávila (37-30) | Last 10 games: (4-6) | Streak: W-2

7- Matanzas (35-32) | Last 10 games: (6-4) | Streak: W-2

8- Sancti Spíritus (33-34) | Last 10 games: (8-2) | Streak: W-5

9- Guantánamo (32-35) | Last 10 games: (6-4) | Streak: L-1

10- Artemisa (32-35) | Last 10 games: (3-7) | Streak: W-1

11- Villa Clara (31-35) | Last 10 games: (5-5) | Streak: L-1

12- Mayabeque (30-36) | Last 10 games: (6-4) | Streak: W-1

13- Camagüey (30-37) | Last 10 games: (1-9) | Streak: L-5

14- Cienfuegos (24-43) | Last 10 games: (4-6) | Streak: L-2

15- Holguín (24-43) | Last 10 games: (3-7) | Streak: L-2

16- Isla de la Juventud (19-43) | Last 10 games: (1-9) | Streak: L-7

The Hunters managed to avoid the sweep against the Wasps, but they will have to face the Las Tunas Lumberjacks next week. Photo: Yadrián Rivero.

Winners who recovered

—Cazadores de Artemisa (they beat Santiago de Cuba 8-4 in the second game of the doubleheader this Sunday)

After another crushing loss against the Wasps—the fourth in a row of the week—the Hunters did not give up in the second game this Sunday. Veteran Alberto Bisset dominated the first inning, but the Hunters bombed him at the end of the second inning. Andy Cosme opened the attack with a three-run home run and, five batters later, an RBI single by Osmel Solano caused Bisset to explode. Six of the Hunters' seven hits in that second inning went to Bisset, who allowed four runs and saw his ERA explode to 7.38 after 14 starts this season.

If this was your suspicion, you are absolutely right: this has been the worst year in Bisset's career. For the first time he lost four consecutive games starting the season. His worst start in 20 seasons had been 0-2, and 1-4 after winning at least one decision. Bisset is 1-7 this year, one win shy of his career-worst 2-7 in the 50th Serie Nacional (2010-2011 season). Until now, the Wasps rotation has survived without its usual contribution, but the postseason is approaching. And, with this poor performance from Bisset, manager Eddy Cajigal will likely be forced to make adjustments to his rotation.

After Bisset's departure, the Hunters added two runs in the third inning, and one more in the fifth and sixth, respectively. Santiago de Cuba tried to come back with a three-run rally at the beginning of the fifth, produced by a double by Yoelquis Guibert and a sacrifice fly by Eduardo García. However, starter Dayron Díaz held on. He got the last out of the fifth inning, and then the duo of Arian Abreu and José Ángel García closed the doors of home plate for the Wasps during the last two innings.

The victory gave a break to the Hunters, who have lost seven of their last 10 games, and next week they will have a great test by fire: they will visit the Julio Antonio Mella stadium to face the Las Tunas. Needless to say, the challenge that the Hunters will have, who need to overcome Sancti Spíritus to maintain their aspirations of returning to the playoffs. The Lumberjacks have won 11 of their last 15 games against the Hunters, and 15 of their last 21. Yeah, those results in recent years don't seem very encouraging. We'll see what happens this week if the rain doesn't get in the way.

A moment of celebration: 100 victories for Dachel Duquesne

Before continuing with the stories of the “losing of the day” contending team, I wanted to take a minute to talk about Dachel Duquesne, who became the sixth pitcher from Ciego de Ávila with 100 victories in the National Series. “The Duke of Tigers” joined Omar Carrero (149), Lázaro Santana (140), Julio Mantilla (103), Vladimir García (136) and Yander Guevara (115) among Avilanian pitchers with at least 100 games won in the history of Cuban baseball.

Duquesne led the way with a win this Sunday in the Tigers' 5-1 success over the Elephants, and is now co-leader in games won (8), tied with Villa Clara right-hander Osdani Rodriguez. Duquesne pitched 8 ⅔ innings this Sunday, and established the control he usually has: he allowed one earned run (in the second inning), eight hits, and recorded five strikeouts with no walks. In his second start of the week, he bounced back from a loss against the Elephants last Tuesday, when he allowed five earned runs in 5 ⅔ innings.

For Duquesne this is his 15th season, and you probably think it took him a while to reach 100 wins. However, Duquesne did not become a regular member of the Tigers' rotation until his fourth season. In his previous three years, he had recorded just nine starts in 46 games pitched, going 6-5 with a 5.08 ERA. During the 51st National Series, Duquesne began to be part of the starting rotation and finished with an inconsistent 6-4 record and 5.59 ERA.

Where was his problem? Yes, although Duquesne has never stood out for boasting an impressive fastball, his main inefficiency in those early years was command. After his first four seasons, his K-BB ratio was 80-72. In the next five years came the big jump: he improved the K-BB to 246-151. And then he began to gain self-confidence, learning from the experience gained and maturity.

In his style, depending on the changeup and his breaking pitches, Duquesne became a winner just when the Tigers won three titles in the 2010s. His best moment was in the period between 2015-2020, when he was the third most league winner with a 45-30 record. Duquesne was only surpassed in victories by Las Tunas right-hander Yoalkis Cruz (47-34) and Matanzas left-hander Yoennis Yera (49-19), but he also had his moment of splendor: he led the league in those years with 21 complete games, and finished second in shutouts (5), surpassed only by Granma right-hander Lázaro Blanco (6).

Losers who regressed

—Guantánamo Indians (lost 5-4 against Pinar del Río)

After taking a 4-2 lead with a home run by Leodanis Brooks at the beginning of the fourth inning, the Indians' offense could not produce in the rest of the game against the Pinar del Río bullpen: they went 0 for 12 in the sixth inning onwards facing right-hander Yancarlos García and former MLB left-hander Raudel Lazo.

At that pace it was difficult to beat these Vegueros.

Finally, Humberto Rivera had a success to remember when he returned to Pinar del Río. Rivera had gone 2 for 15 and was 1 for 8 as a pinch hitter before stepping up to the plate this Sunday at Nguyen Van Troi Stadium. The best thing among so many failures had been that he was putting the ball in play. He had only two strikeouts in 15 plate appearances. But the story took a turn: Rivera hit an RBI single that put Pinar del Río ahead 5-4, and Raudel Lazo retired the ninth inning in a row, allowing three ground balls into the infield.

The story of dominance continues: Pinar del Río leads the league with a 44-23 record, has won all 13 of its series this year, and remains unbeatable on Sundays, with an impressive 14-0 record.

Even if the Indians had won, they would have remained in ninth place, because they lost the series 4-1 against Sancti Spíritus. Of course, with a (33-34) record, Guantánamo would have been in a better position to face what will be a decisive week when they visit the Pirates, who have lost their last seven games.

The most recent stories in the Indians vs. Pirates series sound interesting: in the last five years the Pirates have led 11-10, but in the last three, the Indians are ahead 10-5. The Pirates have just been shipwrecked after being swept in five games against the Alazanes de Granma, who led the series with an overwhelming record of 59 runs for 3. They scored only three runs in 30 innings on offense, and finished with the same number of hits singles than strikeouts (18).

This has been the Pirates' worst stretch all season, but the question here is whether the Indians can take advantage of it.