Postseason: First crown claim
No team has been able to stop them. The Vegueros of Pinar del Río once again demonstrated that they are still the leaders of this 63rd National Series of Cuban baseball and this Wednesday they eliminated Industriales in Game 6 of the Semifinal.
The Blues of the Capital could not react after the 15-3 beating that the Vegueros gave them in a crucial Game 5. After the defeat, Industriales was officially in fourth place in the standings this season, while Pinar del Río will play the final against the winner between Granma and Las Tunas (current national champion). With another sensational comeback, the Leñadores were victorious 18-15 in Game 4 and are one victory away from returning to the finals to defend their crown.
Granma 15, Las Tunas 18
Shortly after the call of play ball was heard this Wednesday, the hitters seemed unstoppable: Granma scored seven runs and went 13-for-20 in their first three innings on offense. Yes, they hit .650 in just over two rounds of the lineup. But Las Tunas was not far behind. The Leñadores went 6-for-11 in their first two innings, and closed the third inning at home trailing 7-6.
The Alazanes made the score 11-6 at the top of the fourth, and then the Leñadores returned to the attack with five runs. No pitcher seemed prepared enough to safely put out a batter. The offensive party continued, and Granma extended its lead to 15-10 in the top of the sixth. With two outs, a single by Yosvany Alarcón brought the Leñadores within 15-13, and then the key moment of the game occurred. Carlos Santana was relieved by Alexei Alarcón, but the strategy did not work for manager Ángel Ortega: Rafael Viñales hit a timely three-run home run that gave Las Tunas a 16-15 lead.
The Alazanes could not respond in the rest of the game, and Viñales' home run became the decisive blow for the Leñadores. Viñales had entered Game 3 without extra bases, but quickly made adjustments with his swing. In the last two games he has crushed Granma's pitches: he is 6 for 9 with two home runs and nine RBIs. Now that we talk about home runs, the resurgence of the Leñadores is notable: in these playoffs they have hit 11 home runs, seven of them against Granma pitchers.*
*The last two runs of Game 4 were driven in by Yuniesky Larduet's single in the bottom of the seventh, and you probably won't be surprised to hear this:
—The 41 hits combined by Granma (20) and Las Tunas (20) became the new record for playoff games. The previous mark was held by Santiago de Cuba and Villa Clara, who combined to hit 40 hits in Game 6 of the Semifinal in the 47th National Series.
—The 33 combined runs were recorded as the second all-time playoff mark.
—Point three, although it is probably the most shocking: The Leñadores have won 12 of their last 13 games at home during the playoffs. Yes, they have been almost invincible!
But the big problem with the Alazanes pitching is that the starters have not been able to get more than five outs. Las Tunas went 4 for 4 and scored five runs against left-hander Yunier Castillo in Game 3, who was substituted without making an out. Granma's hope was that right-hander César García could extend his usual durability on the mound, but the Leñadores bombed him for five runs in just 1 ⅔ innings.
Is it possible to have a chance of victory against this Las Tunas team after seeing your starters explode in the first or second inning? Obvious answer: The challenge looks complicated. The Leñadores went 9 for 14, and scored 10 earned runs in Castillo and García's combined starts. After each explosion, the premature activation of the bullpen has been fatal, especially considering that the main relievers are almost always preserved to pitch when there is an advantage on the scoreboard.
Los Alazanes have once again fallen behind 3-1, and this time a comeback seems more difficult against the current national champions. After the four-run rally in the top of the sixth, Granma's lineup was limited by right-hander Alberto Pablo Civil. Civil dominated his seven opponents, allowing no runs in 2 ⅔ innings and closing the bottom of the ninth with three strikeouts.
Industriales 0, Pinar del Río 2
After a first game of the day that was literally a party of hits between Granma and Las Tunas, Industriales and Pinar del Río offered a pitching duel led by right-hander Pavel Hernández against the Vegueros left-hander, Branlis Rodríguez. The Blues of the Capital got their second hit in the top of the seventh,* while the Vegueros had registered six—half of them to take a decisive 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning.
*The collective slump continued, which seemed like a bad omen if we remember the latest stories of Industriales facing Pinar del Río at the Capitán San Luis stadium:
Quarterfinals 47 National Series: 24-0 blowout loss that began a three-game sweep in the 2008 postseason.
Semifinal 53 National Series: Comeback from 1-3 in the 2014 postseason.
The two runs were driven in by a single to center by Luis Pablo Acosta, which sent Tailon Sánchez and Jorge Yoán Rojas to the plate. That low batch of hitters was key in the Vegueros lineup. Tailon Sánchez hit .545 (22-12) with five doubles and nine RBIs against Industriales pitchers. Jorge Yoán Rojas singled to tie Game 1 at 3-3, one out away from losing in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Vegueros achieved success when pinch-hitter Yasiel Agete was hit by a pitch from reliever Carlos Manuel Cuesta with the bases loaded.
The other hero that Vegueros fans will not forget is Luis Pablo Acosta, who became the MVP of Game 6. Acosta hit the two-run single in the fourth and, in the top of the seventh, captured a fly ball from Yasiel Santoya deep in the center field to avoid Industriales' tie.
The Blues had not put runners in scoring position the entire game until they combined a walk to Roberto Álvarez (he led the team with a .542 on-base percentage against Pinar del Río) and the first hit in 21 times at bat by Oscar Valdés during this Semifinal. Branlis's start, pitching a shutout of 6 ⅓ innings with just two hits allowed, generated a standing ovation from the fans who gathered at the Capitán San Luis stadium.
For manager Alexander Urquiola, who knew how to use his best relievers to preserve advantages in key situations, it was time to make a call to the bullpen. Rodríguez was replaced by former MLB left-hander Raudel Lazo. And, as happened in Game 1, Lazo consecutively retired the last seven Industriales batters, marking his second save in this Semifinal.
After the 15-3 loss in Game 5, Industriales missed the great opportunity to get an advantage to the Capitán San Luis stadium. Two of those three runs were driven in by a double by Yasmany Tomás, who stood out as the team's main RBI along with Roberto Acevedo. However, the Vegueros managed to stop the inspiration of Acevedo, who finished 1-for-7 in the last two games.
The only time he reached base in Game 6 was on a walk, and Branlis caught him stealing second. The cases of Tomás, Oscar Valdés and Yasiel Santoya were decisive in the productivity of the Industriales lineup. Tomás went 0-for-4 this Wednesday. All of the outs were on fly balls, and three of them were into foul territory. Tomás arrived twice with a runner on first, but the notable anxiety of hitting a home run was overcome by the focus of Branlis, who knew how to throw quality pitches to completely throw him off balance.
Valdes (1-for-21, 0 RBI) and Santoya (2-for-18, 1 RBI) combined to go 1-for-19 with runners in scoring position. Former Minor League player Alfredo Rodríguez did not drive in runs in 23 plate appearances.
The Blues were unable to obtain victory in the two games they started with their main pitcher, right-hander Andy Vargas. Unlike that result, the Vegueros had two victories from left-hander Branlis Rodríguez, who has led the starting rotation all season. In two starts, Branlis allowed only two runs in 11 ⅓ innings, and Industriales hitters averaged a poor .225 against his pitches.
After the 2-2 tie in Game 4, Pinar del Río knew how to recover and finish. The Vegueros brought out their lineage of champions as they have done throughout history and will be back to the final of Cuban baseball in search of the title.
