Postseason: On the edge of the abyss — again

This was a pretty crazy baseball Sunday! I wanted to rest to return to our postseason column on Monday, but there were too many strange things to note on my score card, and moments of tension and emotion in the dramatic Game 3 between Industriales vs Santiago de Cuba. I hope you have a happy week and continue enjoying our coverage. Remember, if you haven't subscribed yet, this nifty little button can help you:

Thank you for reading. Let's go to baseball!

Game 3: Santiago de Cuba 5, Industriales 4 (Final in 11 innings)

What game! How many turning points in nine innings, and then an extra inning full of controversy and emotion. The game was decided at the end of the eleventh inning, but each of these moments influenced the two teams to get there. The Wasps are one win away from sweeping the Industriales, who have lost their last seven postseason games.

Let's get back to the turning points and key moments!

Industriales' ineffective lineup could not complete the job

Yes, the game was decided in the bottom of the eleventh inning, and I think Oscar Valdés' bunt was the key play. Adriel Labrada made a timely assist to force Alberto Calderón at third. I don't think the bunt was a play of choice for Oscar Valdés, who has shown enough ability to face high-pressure situations.

Losing by one run in the bottom of the eleventh inning is the play that seems the least reasonable. Even though Oscar Valdés had not driven in a run in 13 plate appearances this postseason, the risk of touching the ball could have been worse. Had the bunt sacrifice worked, Santiago de Cuba would probably have looked for a double play opportunity. And, by throwing an intentional walk against Ariel Hechevarría, he would have had the responsibility of driving in Yamil Rivalta, who was in the seventh at-bat at that time.

Now, the turning point here is that Industriales had enough chances to score runs and didn't take advantage of them:

—Bottom first inning: Yasmany Tomás hit a fly out to left with two outs and Yasiel Santoya at second. By not scoring on that occasion, the Wasps came out ahead on the scoreboard for the third consecutive game.

—Bottom second inning: Roberto Acevedo led off the inning by hitting a double, but was then thrown out at second. Roque Tomás hit a ground ball to the pitcher, Bisset realized that Acevedo was trying to go to third and put him out at second. The play ended up being a strange “1-6-6-3” double play without forcing the runner at second, as shortstop Maykol Poll quickly threw to first and also put out Tomás.

—Bottom fourth inning: Santiago de Cuba's defense continued to get key outs: Alfredo Rodríguez hit a grounder to third, third baseman Euclides Pérez tried to force the runner at second, but he threw wide and the second baseman could not step on the bag. The first runner, Ariel Hechevarría, quickly signaled to the second umpire, but Castillo was alerted and threw to first. The big surprise was that Alfredo Rodríguez did not run enough, thinking that they had forced Hechevarría at second, and he ended up being out at first due to the strange “5-4-3” combination. The distraction cost Rodríguez manager Guillermo Carmona to remove him from the game, and he was replaced by Yamil Rivalta.

—Bottom sixth inning: Yamil Rivalta hit a foul fly to right with runners on first and second and two outs.

—Bottom tenth inning: After a sensational tie due to doubles by Rivalta and Acevedo, and a single by pinch-hitter Dayron Miranda in the bottom of the ninth, Industriales lost the great opportunity of the game.

Maykel Taylor had dominated the Wasps during the Tie Break at the beginning of the tenth inning, extending his streak to 23 consecutive retired batters. Since Luis Orlando Veranes' single in the third inning, only one batter reached base against Taylor the rest of the afternoon: it was catcher Alexander Llanes, who was intentionally walked during the top of the 10th inning with two outs.

Maykel Taylor's great pitching

Before continuing with the crucial outcome for the Lions, he wanted to dedicate a minute to the jewel of Taylor, who deserved better luck. In fact, his performance speaks for itself: he pitched 10 innings, allowing only four singles, with six strikeouts and one intentional walk. It's not a mistake, yes, Taylor threw 10 innings! And he retired 23 consecutive batters in the style of the legendary Orlando “El Duque” Hernández, who pitched ten innings and beat Villa Clara 3-2 in Game 1 of the 1994 final. However, Industriales could not crown the Maykel Taylor's long-awaited first victory as a playoff starter.

Yasiel Santoya came up to the plate at the end of the tenth inning against right-hander Luis Ángel Torres, but could not produce: he hit a ground ball to the shortstop, and the Wasps defense once again took advantage of Industriales' mistakes on the bases. Runner at second, Dayron Miranda, left late for third, thinking that shortstop Maykol Poll had caught the ball before he hit. Poll caught on quickly and forced the runner at second. Castillo also reacted in time, and threw to third to put Miranda out.

Third baseman Euclides Pérez stepped on the base, which would have left the runner alive, but he also touched Miranda with his glove. The play generated confusion because at first it seemed that Euclides had only stepped on third base. Obviously, the runner was not forced to move forward. He had to touch it to put it out. So it was.

After winning the challenge in the video, Santiago de Cuba managed to stay alive: Torres dominated Yasmany Tomás, who grounded out to deliver the third out of the inning.

Final destination

With a second chance in extra innings, Santiago de Cuba scored the decisive run of the game. Francisco Martínez sacrificed himself and reached first safely due to a throwing error by pitcher Carlos Manuel Cuesta. With bases loaded, Luis Orlando Veranes' swing produced the hit that triggered the most controversial play of the afternoon: he hit a sacrifice fly to left field. Ángel Alfredo Hechevarría—who started the game at shortstop and was later moved to left field—caught the fly ball and threw home to throw out pinch-runner Osvaldo Duany.

Hechevarría's throw was so powerful and accurate that he arrived with enough time to put Duany out at the plate. However, catcher Oscar Valdés received the throw and stayed in the runner's lane toward home plate. The throw came on time, and there was no doubt that Duany had been out at home plate, but Valdés' positioning did not prevent the collision at home plate.

Industriales manager Guillermo Carmona is once again on the brink of his tenure with an active streak of seven consecutive postseason losses. Photo: Yadrian Rivero.

Santiago de Cuba challenged the play and, after being reviewed on the video, the umpire supervisors revoked the decision and declared it safe. The Wasps went ahead 5-4 and finally managed to prevent victory from slipping away.

As we saw throughout the game, Industriales had enough opportunities to have avoided the decision of the game in the eleventh inning. In the end, the play at the plate decided the fate of Game 3 for an inconsistent Industriales team. Many will not agree with the decision at the plate, but the purpose of the rule is clear: it was implemented to avoid all types of collisions at the plate. That's the point: collisions. And Oscar Valdés' positioning ended up causing a collision.

In any case, the worst news for Industriales is that they are on the brink of the abyss, again: no team that has fallen behind 3-0 in the Cuban baseball playoffs has been able to recover.