Cuba team defeated Curaçao 3-1 in the Final of the Copa del Caribe that was held in 2023 in Puerto Rico in this edition. For the Cubans it was their third appearance in this tournament, in their previous two others they lost the Final against Curaçao and Puerto Rico respectively.
The third time was the charm for the Antillean team in the Caribbean Cup. It had been 8 years, 10 months and 15 days since Cuba had won an international tournament, the last international event it had won was on November 22,2014 when they managed to win the Central American and Caribbean Games in Veracruz, Mexico.
It must be remembered that the Vegueros of Pinar del Río under the command of Alfonso Urquiola won the Caribbean Series in 2015, but that is a club event. Curaçao scored first in the opening inning when Andrelton Simmons opened the game with a single to left, then advanced to third courtesy of a Ray Van Gurp’s hit to the RF and was driven in on Darren Seferina ground ball.
Arlison Rodríguez (4.2 IP, 4H, ER, BB, K), a left-hander who was signed by the New York Mets and who pitches in the Dominican Summer League (Rookie Level), kept the Cuban team at bay first the first four stanzas, but proceeded to issue a walk to Andrys Pérez with two outs in the fifth and his relief (Nick Keur) then allowed consecutive hits by Yadil Mujica and Roel Santos (RBI) that led to the game being tied at one.
🏆 V Copa del Caribe de Béisbol 🌎.
🏟 Estadio: "Concepción Pérez, PUR🇵🇷"
🏆Etapa: Discusión del oro 🥇
1⃣2⃣3⃣4⃣5⃣6⃣7️⃣
🇨🇼 CUR 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
🇨🇺 CUB 0 0 0 0 1 2 xC H E
🇨🇼 CUR 1 5 0
🇨🇺 CUB 3 8 1 pic.twitter.com/X78lE1GWMx— Círculo de Espera (@CirculodEspera) October 8, 2023
At the end of the sixth, the Cuban squad put together a game-winning rally by combining a double by Roberto Baldoquín and a home run by Erisbel Arruebarruena that traveled more than 400 feet to straight away center field and gave Cuba a 3-1 advantage.
Yoennis Yera notched his second victory of the tournament after working six complete frames, allowing only one run, five hits and striking out 10 opponents. Renner Rivero tossed a scoreless seventh inning, striking out a batter to earn the save.
On the day Roberto Baldoquín (3-2, R, 2B) and Erisbel Arruebarruena (3-2, R, HR, 2RBI) were responsible for half of the Cuban team’s hits and two of its three runs. Cuba will make its debut against Colombia on the 20th in this Pan American Games, then they will play Venezuela on the 22nd and will close the classification stage against Brazil on the 24th. In Lima 2019 they finished in sixth place aftee losing 10-9 to the Dominican Republic in the fifth place game.
Cuban action on the day:
Lineup:
1. Roel Santos (CF): 3-1, RBI
2. Roberto Baldoquín (3B): 3-2, R, 2B
3. Yurisbel Gracial (LF): 3-1, K
4. Erisbel Arruebarruena (SS): 3-2, R, HR, 2RBI, K
5. Dayan García (DH): 3-1, K
6. Yasniel González (1B): 3-0, K
7. Luis González (RF): 2-0
8. Andrys Pérez (C): 1-0, R, BB
9. Yadil Mujica (2B): 2-1
Pitching:
-Yoennis Yera: 6.0 IP, 5H, ER, 10K, W (2-0)
-Renner Rivero: 1.0 IP, K, Sv (1)