Las Tunas can take a 3-0 stranglehold in their semi-final playoff series with a win Wednesday afternoon. The Leñadores took advantage of some sloppy Cocodrilos defence en route to a 10-6 win in game 2. Game 3 will be live March 10th, 2021 at 1pm via Cubadugout.
The defending champs from Matanzas have squandered solid pitching performances by playing shoddy defence in the first two games. Five errors led to five unearned runs as Noelvis Entenza laboured through 5 innings. Yudiel Rodriguez cruised through 8 innings on the other side. He tired late and surrendered multiple runs in a contest that was already decided. He fell just short of giving Las Tunas their second straight complete game.
Danel Castro led Las Tunas with 2 RBI which is somewhat indicative of their opportunism on the day. They scored 10 runs without striking a big blow, instead they let Matanzas beat themselves. Castro’s story is fascinating and no, to my knowledge is not related to Fidel. Due to his age, you might jokingly think they played baseball in High School together. The second baseman and now largely DH debuted in 1993 at just 16 years of age. His 27 seasons in the National Series combined with the fact he plans to keep playing will put him in the record books when he retires. Those 27 seasons at the very least tie Nolan Ryan and Cap Anson for most seasons played professionally.
Las Tunas vs Matanzas continues without a key piece in young catcher Ariel Martinez. Martinez has returned to Japan to fulfill his pro contract with the Chunichi Dragons. Because of this Andrys Perez Garcia has picked up the catching duties for Matanzas. He is relatively young and unproven to this point.
