Cuban baseball team. Author: taken from internet
The Cuban team, preparing to compete in the upcoming V World Baseball Classic, had the best result of their Asian tour, beating Dragones de Wei Chuan of the Chinese Taipei Pro League 4-0, according to ACN.
Mentor Armando Johnson’s team worked like a Swiss watch in three lines of play, especially in the pitching—no doubt his strongest side—as among the four pitchers on the mound, they handcuffed an opponent’s offense, barely taking two singles, and threw a whopping 16 strikeouts. .
Particular attention is paid to Camaguey right-hander Yariel Rodriguez, who works closer in his club Dragones de Chunichi in Japanese baseball and who is used as a starter in these empty games and does it excellently. His fast pitches were close to 97 miles and he threw in four full innings with just one hit and six strikeouts.
His pitchers had complete control over the Taipei roster. They were left-handers Onelki Garcia and Yoenni Yera (the latter hitting four against five batters) and Raidel Martinez, who commanded authority with his fastball.
Cuba Clasico opened the scoring in the third inning with two runs: a double by Yoelkis Gibert, a three by Grillo Arrubarrena, and a strikeout by Alfredo Despain. The two remaining scores were posted by Despain and Arrubarrena for solo homers in the eighth and ninth innings, in that order.
Tomorrow Cuba will play their ninth preparatory match. His opponent will be the Taiwan Cooperative Bank, a club outside the Asian country’s Professional League.
Source: Juventud Rebelde
