With its victory over Camagüey, the Pinar del Río team was only two games away from the top occupied by Ciego de Avila, while William Saavedra moved up to the lead in home runs (10) in the Cuban baseball season.
The Vegueros de Pinar defeated the Toros de Camaguey for the second consecutive day in the game with the most runs on Thursday (16-11), whose leading role was assumed by Saavedra with a pair of homers and six towers, along with former major leaguer Alexei Ramírez, author of four hits, including a home run, and four runs batted in.
Saavedra moved into sole command of the home run ranking.
The victory confirmed the Pinar del Río team in second place in the standings, behind Ciego de Avila, which lost 12-9 to Industriales.
The Leones de Industriales, in third place, also won the sub-series 2-1 against the only team that dominates them in the Cuban national series (104-98), led in the night game by former major league player Yasmani Tomás, who batted 6-3, with a double, home run and two runs batted in.
The only teams that assured success in this week’s match, with two games left, are Las Tunas, Santiago de Cuba and Sancti Spíritus.
The defending champion Leñadores Tuneros defeated Cienfuegos (4-1) for the third time, with the third save by their bullpen ace Alberto Pablo Civil.
The Eastern Wasps did the same against Mayabeque by 10-7, inspired by Yoelquis Guibert and Eduardo García, who both hit home runs, while in the losing cause Dennis Laza hit two home runs and Juan Miguel Martínez another.
The Gallos seem to have recovered from their nine-game losing streak and have three wins against Guantánamo, the one on Thursday, 6-5.
The lineup was completed with Matanzas’ second win over Granma (9-7), with Adrián Pérez’s home run, a three-run homer, the same number of runs as José Amaury Noroña.
And La Isla won its first challenge against Holguín by 10-7, a game in which Dainier Gálvez and Jeffrey Pérez hit four-run homers.
The game between Artemisa and Villa Clara was suspended due to rain.
After Ciego de Avila (16-4), Pinar del Rio (14-6), Industriales (13-7), Camagüey (12-8), Las Tunas (9-6), Granma and Matanzas (11-9) are in the first positions.
Behind are Artemisa (10-9), La Isla (7-8), Santiago de Cuba (9-11), Mayabeque and Sancti Spíritus (8-12), Villa Clara (7-12), Holguín (7-13) and Cienfuegos and Guantánamo (6-14).
