Sancti Spiritus Surges in Cuba’s Baseball

HAVANA TIMES, April 5 – Sancti Spiritus won its ninth straight game Sunday increasing its chances for one of the four playoff spots in the Western Division of the 90-game Cuban Baseball League season.

The 16-4 blasting of Granma put Sancti Spiritus in fourth place, one game ahead of Metropolitanos and Matanzas, embraced in fifth. The sweetheart of the capital, Industriales, also had a good week winning five of their last six games to keep their hopes alive, 2.5 games behind Sancti Spiritus.

Two other hot teams are Ciego de Avila, which has won seven of its last nine games to take over the Eastern Division lead by three games over struggling Villa Clara (two wins out of nine games), and Matanzas which won four of six during the week to stay in the fight in the West.

For a look at the remaining games on the Cuban Baseball Schedule see: schedule.pdf

Four teams from each division will make to the post season. In the West, Isla de la Juventud, Sancti Spiritus, Metropolitanos, Matanzas and Industriales are all in the fight for the third and fourth positions. Meanwhile in the East, unless there is a sudden debacle, the four teams looking good for the post season are Ciego de Avila, Villa Clara, Santiago de Cuba (defending league champs) and Holguin.

Teams (Western Division) W L Pct GB
La Habana 42 24 .636
Pinar del Rio 36 30 .545 6.0
Isla de la Juventud 31 35 .470 11.0
Sancti Spiritus 30 36 .455 12.0
Metropolitanos 29 37 .439 13.0
Matanzas 29 37 .439 13.0
Industriales 27 38 .415 14.5
Cienfuegos 21 45 .318 21.0
Teams (Eastern Division) W L Pct GB
Ciego de Avila 46 20 .697
Villa Clara 43 23 .652 3.0
Santiago de Cuba 40 25 .615 5.5
Holguin 38 28 .576 8.0
Camaguey 32 34 .485 14.0
Granma 28 38 .424 18.0
Guantanamo 27 38 .415 18.5
Las Tunas 27 39 .409 19.0