Ariel Pestano, Jr. hit two home runs in Game 1 against Granma. Author: Abel Rojas Barallobre
The teams are so evenly matched that in yesterday’s doubleheader, only six of the two wins of the day had won more than one in a row, and Cienfuegos filmed the film in Vueltabajo.
Such a rivalry was predicted from the start of the season, judging by the entry lists and the frequent changes brought about by overseas travel, either due to contract signings or the ALBA Games.
May 2 was an interesting day, with two shutouts of Cienfuegos against Pinar del Río (5:0 and 1:0), let’s say in cinematic terms: the birds are firing a shotgun, since the one with the elephants is one of the worst pitchers of the season , and experienced Bladimir Banos and Erlis Casanova became the victims.
Despite this double defeat, Vegueros remained half a unit from the top, occupied by the indomitable, also defeated Holguin twice (7-6 and 4-1).
Tigres de Ciego de Avila moved up to third in the rankings after beating the island (6-5 and 3-2), while Las Tunas and Matanzas could only
cut the game with their respective honor units.
Legnadores scored Industriales (3-0) with a sixth save from Alberto Pablo Civil, but lost the rest 5-7. For his part, Kokodrilos was better than Mayabeque 3-2 before losing 5-7.
These were the only bouts not to feature a second date draw of the seventh sub-series of the season, as Leopardos de Villa Clara broke a five-lose streak in the best possible way: two wins against a restless national champion who failed to move out of position below.
Early in the morning Ariel Pestano Jr hit a couple of homers in Javier Mirabal’s 6-1 success and then the outcome was more comfortable (12-6).
And Guantanamo ate bull steak. These were closed scores (6-5 and 5-3), which revived the Indians and put Camagüey in the red zone.
Sancti Spiritus also had (12-1 and 7-6) Artemis, who suffered a sensitive injury loss to Osmel Solano, one of the season’s best-performing strikers.
Position table: SCU (20-13), PRI (19-13), CAV (17-13), ART (18-14), LTU (17-14), MTZ (18-15), IJV and SSP (17-15) , MAY (17-16), VCL and HOL (16-16), GTM (14-18), CMG (14-19), IND and CFG (13-20), GRA (12-21).
Source: Juventud Rebelde