Postseason: You can't predict baseball
October 17, 2004
Kevin Millar led off the bottom of the ninth inning by walking in a five-pitch inning against Mariano Rivera. Red Sox manager Terry Francona replaced Millar with pinch-runner Dave Roberts.
Yankees closer Mariano Rivera veered to first three times to try to surprise Roberts. On the next pitch, Roberts stole second, and the Red Sox put the potential tying run in scoring position. The Red Sox were down 3-0, and the Yankees were three outs away from winning Game 4, 4-3.
So, if catcher Jorge Posada had caught Roberts stealing, the Red Sox would have lost their last breath of hope. Two pitches later, Bill Mueller hit a grounder to center field and drove in Roberts from second to tie the score, 4-4.
The run kept the Red Sox alive, who achieved victory at the end of the twelfth inning thanks to a walk-off home run by David Ortíz against reliever Paul Quantrill. That first victory prevented the Yankees' sweep and began a historic comeback unprecedented in the Major Leagues. After three losses to start the American League Championship Series, the Red Sox won the next four games 6-4 (in 12 innings) and 5-4 (in 14 innings) at Fenway Park, and then 4-2 and 10-3 at Yankee Stadium.
Since that epic feat in October 2004, the Red Sox have been the only team to come back from 0-3 in Major League history. And, as I have written here since last week, no team had ever achieved a comeback from 0-3 in the Cuban baseball playoffs. That story changed this Saturday, after Industriales' 4-2 victory over Santiago de Cuba in Game 7 of the Quarterfinal Series.*
*Las Tunas beat Ciego de Ávila 8-2 in Game 7, and also qualified for the Semifinals. Granma and Matanzas will play Game 7 tomorrow Sunday starting at 2:00 PM.
Yes, although this result was unexpected when Santiago de Cuba took a 3-0 lead, they could not win again.
Industriales' pitching controlled the Avispas' offense, at least enough to come back in the series. The Industriales starters combined for five quality outings in seven games. On the other hand, the Avispas' rotation did not record any quality starts. That was a point that definitely influenced Industriales' comeback, together with the defensive debacle in key moments and the inefficient hitting with runners in scoring position:
Game 5: Adriel Labrada's error at second base cost two of the four runs Industriales scored in the bottom of the second inning. The final score of the game was a 6-4 victory for Industriales, so the two unearned runs played a role in the Avispas' loss.
Game 6: Adriel Labrada's throwing error, trying to complete a double play, cost a run in the top of the sixth. And, in the following inning, a throwing error by Euclides Pérez also increased the opportunities for Industriales. Yasmany Tomás' strikeout against Alberto Bisset would have been the third out, but the story was different: Oscar Valdés hit a double that tied the score 4-4. On offense, Santiago de Cuba's first four batters went 3-for-18 with an RBI (at the end of the tenth).
Santiago de Cuba's bullpen could not control the game, and the main hitters failed to produce in clutch situations. For the second consecutive postseason, the Avispas have been eliminated by Industriales visiting the Guillermón Moncada stadium in Game 7.
What seemed impossible was possible, because you should never try to predict baseball.
Game 7: Industriales 4, Santiago de Cuba 2
Key moment: When Industriales took the Avispas' starter, right-hander Wilber Reyna, off the mound, who had allowed a run. The sad thing about the story was that Reyna didn't really explode. Alfredo Rodríguez opened the inning with a double and Juan Carlos Torriente struck out after three failed attempts to touch the ball. With one out, Alberto Calderón hit a line drive that hit Reyna in the face. The hit was so forceful that the ball bounced into the third baseman's territory and Euclides Pérez managed to put Calderón out at first.
Reyna fell to the mound with the impact of the hit and was quickly taken out of the game on a stretcher. His departure gave an emotional turn to the game, and caused the bullpen to activate early. Right-hander Yoendris Montero was the first reliever for the Avispas, and the Blues took advantage of the situation. A triple by Roberto Acevedo put Industriales ahead 2-1. And, in the next inning, another triple by Dayron Miranda increased the lead to 4-1.
That was the key blow of the game for the Industriales offense and, with the gem of pitching that Maykel Taylor launched, the four runs were enough. The Blues were able to score again at the beginning of the ninth, but they were given an absolutely incredible play. With runners on first and second, Yasiel Santoya hit a grounder to the right of the first baseman. Harold Vázquez fielded the bounce, and made a throw to pitcher Osvaldo Acuña, but Santoya reached first base safely.
Instantly, Santiago de Cuba's defense signaled for the play to be challenged on video. However, while the play was developing at first, runner at second, Alberto Calderón, turned to third and stopped to see what was happening. And then the unexpected happened, something I have really rarely seen in baseball: Acevedo, the leadoff runner, also doubled to third, left Calderón behind and ran to the plate.
The third-string umpire, Román Zamora, former catcher for the Guantánamo teams in the National Series, noticed the infraction and declared Acevedo out. But the play could not be detailed until the inning ended. Minutes later, when the play was repeated on the television broadcast of the Tele Rebelde channel, it was possible to find out why Industriales' manager, Guillermo Carmona, was arguing with the umpires.
Apparently, Carmona thought there was a timeout called after the play at first base, but it really wasn't. Even after missing that opportunity in the ninth, Industriales managed to maintain a two-run lead.
Game MVP: Maykel Taylor. His start of 7 ⅔ innings and 123 pitches was decisive for Industriales. Those two outs in the bottom of the eighth were key: Taylor dominated Adriel Labrada on a fly out to short, and then struck out Eduardo García with a runner on first. Labrada (1-for-4, K) and García (0-for-4, K) went a combined 1-for-8 with two strikeouts in Game 7 against Taylor, and after that eighth inning they were unable to hit again.
In two starts, Taylor allowed one earned run—and five unearned—in 17 ⅔ innings, 11 hits (only one extra-base hit, Harold Vázquez's double in the seventh inning of Game 7), striking out 12 and walking just two. batters (one of them was an intentional walk). His 63 rivals averaged just .175. But Taylor's great success was in preventing his opponents from reaching base: of the 18 innings he started, in 16 he dominated the first batter of the inning. Starting with one out prevented Santiago de Cuba's offense from using its speed on the bases. And, obviously, any command errors tend to be much less costly when the bases are empty.
Right-hander José Ernesto Pérez got the last four outs of the game, all on ground balls. The most dramatic matchups were to close the eighth and ninth innings, both with at least one runner in scoring position. In the eighth, Pérez retired pinch-hitter José Luis Gutiérrez on a grounder to second. And, in the ninth, he threw out Luis Orlando Veranes, who hit a grounder to second for the final out of the game.
Turning point to consider: Industriales' pitching dominance, even without depth in the bullpen. In the decisive Game 7, Santiago de Cuba's offense left nine runners on base all night and, after leading 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning, they were unable to produce a run until the bottom of the seventh. The two scores were dirty on Maykel Taylor's account.
If something characterized this Avispas team throughout the year, it was the ability to produce runs, but Industriales' pitching stopped them. Let's look at a quick comparison:
Santiago de Cuba offense in the first 3 games: .227/.325/.299/.624, 1 HR, 19 runs scored (6.3 runs per game) and .239 RISP.
Santiago de Cuba offense in last 4 games: .257/.327/.336/.663, 1 HR, 12 runs scored (3.0 runs per game) and .157 RISP.
The most notable differences are easy to see: Santiago de Cuba put more runners on base, improved his slugging and increased OPS in his last four games against Industriales, but clutch hitting faded. They dropped from .239 to .157, which resulted in them scoring 3.3 fewer runs per game.
This is how the Avispas' offense finished in the last four games:
—Adriel Labrada left the seven runners he found in scoring position waiting to be towed.
—Harold Vázquez (hit three doubles) and Andy Rodríguez (driven in two of the six runners he found in scoring position) were the Avispas' most productive hitters.
—Eduardo García drove in one run in his last 18 plate appearances. In Game 7, he hit into a double play in the first inning, leaving runners on first and third. The Avispas did not have a runner at third until Francisco Martínez singled by the pitcher, when Harold Vázquez reached third and scored on an error on Taylor's throw. The play generated controversy, as Martínez ran toward first base outside the runner's line.
—Francisco Martínez reached base five times in his last 14 plate appearances and scored no runs.
—Luis Orlando Veranes finished 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position. He was caught stealing in two attempts and, in Game 6, he was also thrown out at the plate when he attempted to score on Yandi Molina's apparent wild pitch.
—Euclides Pérez went 1-for-12 with three strikeouts and a ground ball into a double play.
—Alexander Llanes, who had been a nightmare for the Blues in the first three games, finished 3-for-14.
—Maykol Poll reached base five times in Game 5, but then went 1-for-9 in the final two games.
—Reinier Castillo was a sure out for Industriales: he finished 0-for-14.
Most surprising of all might be that Industriales came back in the series hitting just .183 with runners in scoring position. For the Blues, that average was enough, especially taking advantage of Santiago de Cuba's key errors and pitching dominance.
Yesterday we said goodbye wondering if a comeback from 0-3 was possible and today, once again, baseball shows us that anything can be possible.
