Photo: Yuhki Ohboshi
The Cuban team that will participate in the upcoming Premier 12 fell this Saturday against its Korean counterpart with a score of 13-3 in a clash that took place at the Gocheok Sky Dome, home of the Kiwoom Heroes, a team from the Korean Baseball Organization. This meeting took place with 16,100 fans in attendance was the second that both teams held in a series called the K-Baseball Series.
The locals came out swinging in the second inning when the fifth hitter, Joon Dong-hee, hit a fastball by right-hander Raymond Figueredo that traveled 400 feet over the left field wall. Cuba tied the score in the next inning when Yoelkis Guibert hit a titanic home run through to center field to open the inning against Go Young-pio, who ultimately won the game.
The man outfielder from Santiago de Cuba was the most outstanding player of the game for the Cuban team after going 3-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI. Yusniel Padrón took the loss in the match after allowing three runs to his rivals in the fourth inning. He also walked one and struck out a batter. Andy Vargas tossed the next two innings, allowing only one hit and notching two of the six strikeouts by the Cuban pitching on the evening.
In the fifth the Cubans managed to scratch out one score to make the game 4-2. Yadil Mujica drew a walk, advanced to second on a slow ground ball from Guibert to the pitcher and then scored with a hit to right by Yoan Moncada. Korea once again upped there lead to three in the seventh when they scored another run against Leodan Reyes, who could only get two outs in an inning where Korea broke the game open.
Geonel Gutiérrez replaced Reyes and after another passed ball, he managed to get the third out of the inning thanks to a ground ball for second.The left-hander remained in the next inning and giving a run via a triple and a single so that the Koreans now had a 6-2 lead.
The Cubans had scored their third run at the end of the seventh when after two outs Yadil Mujica, Yoelkis Guibert and Tailon Sánchez successively hit singles respectively. The Antillean offensive swatted 11 hits, in addition to Guibert, Rafael Viñales also had a multi-hit game (4-2, K).
Frank Luis Medina and Yankiel Mauris could any outs in the eighth and the locals ended up scoring seven runs on the hurlers making the game 13-3. Frank Herrera was in charge of stopping the Koreans in the rally after he secured the remaining two outs of the inning. The Havana native also pitched the ninth and closed his performance with 1.2 innings, he had only one hit, struck out two and once again exceeded 90.0 MPH (90.7).
In addition to Guibert’s home run, there only was another extra-base hit, Jean Walters’ double in the ninth. The Korean pitching struck out nine and their batters had 14 hits, also taking advantage of the seven walks that the Cubans issued.
Cuban lineup:
1.Yoelkis Guibert (CF): 5-3, R, HR, RBI
2.Yoan Moncada (3B): 3-1, K, RBI
PH: Tailon Sánchez: 2-1, RBI
3.Erisbel Arruebarrena (SS): 3-1
PH: Luis Vicente Mateo: 2-0, K
4.Alfredo Despaigne (DH): 3-0, 2K
PH: José Amaury Noroña: 1-0, K
5.Rafael Viñales (RF): 4-2, K
6.Lázaro Armenteros (LF): 3-0, 2K, HBP
7.Roberto Baldaquín (1B): 2-1
PH: Guillermo Avilés: 2-0, K
8.Andrys Pérez (C): 2-0
PH:Andy Cosme: 2-0
9.Yadil Mujica (2B): 2-1, R, BB
PH:Jean Walters: 1-1, R, 2B
Pitching:
Dario Sarduy: 1.0 IP, 0H, 0ER, BB, K
Raymond Figueredo: 2.0 IP, 2H, ER, HR, 3BB, HBP
Yusniel Padrón: 1.0 IP, 3H, 3ER, BB, K
Andy Vargas: 2.0 IP, H, 0ER, 2K
Leodan Reyes: 0.2 IP, H, ER, BB, HBP
Geonel Gutiérrez: 0.2 IP, 2H, 2ER, HBP
Frank Luis Medina: 0.0 IP, 2H, 4ER, BB, HBP
Yankiel Mauris: 0.0 IP, 2H, 2ER; HBP
Frank Herrera: 1.2 IP, H, 0ER, 2K