The Ciego de Avila Tigers filed their 13th success and took advantage of the defeats of two of their closest pursuers to increase their lead at the top of the National Baseball Series.
The losses of Industriales and Camagüey, the latter after a string of 10 consecutive victories, and the suspension due to rain of the game between Pinar del Río and Santiago de Cuba, propitiated the escape of Dany Miranda’s Avila felines.
The Ciego de Avila team beat the Gallos de Sancti Spiritus, a team that has suffered seven losses in a row, for the third consecutive day with a 13-3 seven-episode shutout.
In the attack, they connected 18 hits, with Raúl Valdés (4-3) with a homerun and four towers and Jonathan Bridón (4-2) with three runs to the plate.
Leonardo Reyes took credit for walking six innings in which he gave up an equal number of hits and allowed one clean run.
For the Gallos, Frederich Cepeda hit a double in two opportunities and brought two teammates home.
Meanwhile, the Alazanes de Granma broke the Camagüeyans’ winning streak by beating them 7-2, with Guillermo Avilés, who went 3-2 with a double and a pair of RBIs.
Yunier Castillo reached three hits after working seven acts, where he accepted a couple of runs.
Dariel Góngora gave away four bases on balls and allowed 11 hits and seven runs in the same number of episodes and took the loss.
The Huracanes de Mayabeque defeated the Industriales de La Habana 4-1, with Albert Valladares, who did not allow any clean runs in seven innings.
Yeison Martínez and Yasniel González, both 4-2, towed one run apiece for the winners and for the losers Oscar Valdés had a perfect day with a pair of singles and a double in three innings.
In other games, Matanzas defeated Villa Clara 11-2 with effective work by Pedro Mesa and batting by Yariel Duque, who went 5-4 with three RBIs, and Guantánamo knocked out Holguín 14-1 with good work by Enyer Fernández, to secure both teams their private duels.
Finally, Cienfuegos took revenge and defeated Artemisa 8-7, with an immaculate relief of five chapters by Islay Sotolongo and three runs batted in by Yoasnier Perez (4-2).
The Las Tunas-Isla de la Juventud sub-series was officially suspended due to problems with maritime transportation. The duel between Pinar del Río and Santiago de Cuba was also suspended.
The Tigres Avileños lead the standings with a 12-3 record, followed by Pinar del Río (10-4), Camagüey and Industriales (10-5), Granma (9-6), in the first positions.
