Cuba breathes, qualifying depends on others
HAVANA TIMES — Villa Clara latched on to the arm of Vicyohandry Odelín and managed a 2-1 win yesterday over Puerto Rico that keeps them faintly alive in the Caribbean Series. In the other game tournament host Venezuela defeated the Dominican Republic by the same score.
To qualify for the semifinals, Cuba needs Venezuela to defeat Puerto Rico and the Dominican to win over Mexico in Wednesday games. (Cuba has ended its participation in the qualifying round with a 1-3 record).
Cuba 2 –Puerto Rico 1
Vicyohandry Odelín appeared to give a lecture pitching on Tuesday allowing only two hits, a homer and double in the first inning, to lead his team to their only win thus far in the tournament. The Cuban scoring was thanks to poor fielding from the Puerto Ricans.
Odelín, 33, threw 132 pitches (81 strikes), with 5 strikeouts and 3 walks (all in the sixth inning).
The only damage done to Odelin was in the opening act when Eddie Rosario blasted a solo homer and Ramon Castro seconded him with double but didn’t score.
The Puerto Rican defense was terrible, with 3 very costly errors in the first inning and then again in the seventh, when Cuba scored the winning run.
Joel Pinero was the losing pitcher but threw 6.2 strong innings with excellent control (102 pitches, 72 strikes) scattering 7 hits, striking out one and not issuing a walk. He showed that he is recovered from an injury
All the starting Cubans managed a hit except Andy Zamora and Yordan Manduley, and Yulexis La Rosa had two.
Tournament Standings:
Venezuela 3-0
Mexico 2-1
Dominican Republic 1-2
Puerto Rico 1-2
Cuba 1-3
Four teams will qualify for the semifinals.