Pavel Hernández took the mound last night and had a quality start in the Samanes 6-3 win over Líderes de Miranda (24-17) at the José Pérez Colmenares stadium.
The Cuban right-hander pitched six complete innings, allowing only one hit, no runs, three walks, and striking out five. He received plenty offensive support from his team, leaving the mound with a 3-0 lead and lowering his ERA to 5.27.
“We’ve basically been playing playoffs for a week because we have no margin for error, so I worked hard all week to have a quality start to help the team, and the plan worked out,” the Cuban said to LMBP TV after the game. “The start was a bit slow, but there’s great trust between (Jesús) Sucre and me. I relied on him thanks to his experience, and things turned out well.”
This is not the first professional experience for Hernández. In 2023, he pitched for the Rieleros de Aguascalientes in the Liga Mexicana de Béisbol. There, he pitched in 14 games (12 as a starter), with a 2-3 record, an ERA of 5.31 (62.2 IP; 37 ER), and 29 strikeouts.
Hernández was one of the 25 pitchers on the preliminary roster for the Cuban team for the V World Baseball Classic. In 2022, he was one of the reinforcements for the Granma team that attended the Haarlem Week in the Netherlands.
He is a pitcher who maintains 89-90 MPH with peaks of 92-93 with his fastball. In the current National Series 63, he tossed a No-Hitter against Holguín (9.0 IP, 0H, HBP, 8K). In five starts, he won three games and lost one, with opponents batting .224 against him and had an ERA of 3.77 (28.2 IP; 12 ER).
This tournament plays its qualifying phase with 42 games and eight teams competing. The top four advance to the semifinals (best of 5) and then the Final (best of seven). Last season, the Samanes finished with a 22-20 record, one game away from the qualifying for the Postseason.