Photo: Yuichi Terawaki
The Cuban team debuted this morning in the third Edition of the Premier 12 with a 6-1 loss in a clash with the Dominican Republic held at the Tianmu Stadium in Taipei, China. The Cubans managed to be ahead on the scoreboard, but finally the bullpen could not maintain their minimal advantage. In this way, the Antilleans have not won in their debut of any of the editions of the tournament.
Yoennis Yera was unhittable making his best start with the Cuban team in his international career. The native of Matanzas, Cuba worked six full innings, only giving up three singles, did not walk a batter and struck out six opponents. He tossed 70 pitches, 50 of them going for strikes.
The Cubans threatened in the same first inning after hits by Roel Santos and Alfredo Despaigne, but Ariel Martínez was retired to end the inning. Cuba scored its only run at the end of the sixth inning, when Despaigne swatted his second hit of the game, advanced to second when Ariel Martínez was hit by a pitch, reached third thanks to a hit by Yadir Drake and was able to score on a wild pitch from Dominican reliever Joely Rodriguez.
Cuba’s run was charged to former major leaguer Willy Peralta, who worked for 4.1 innings, where he allowed four hits, walked twice and struck out five. Gerald Ogando relieved Peralta, but he allowed Drake’s hit before he was removed for Joely Rodríguez. With the departure of Yera, the tranquility on the Cuban mound ended.
Leodan Reyes came on to pitch the seventh, after outings he issued a pair of walks (Pedro González and Ricardo Céspedes) and allowed a hit by Arismendy Alcántara so that the Dominican Republic went ahead 2-1, as center fielder, Yoelkis Guibert, He made a mistake that allowed Céspedes to score from second. Geonel Gutiérrez used just four pitches to record the last out of that inning.
Frank Abel Álvarez, could not do himself justice in the eighth inning, also after two outs. He walked Kelvin Gutiérrez, Andretty Cordero doubled and Rainer Núñez singled to left to drive in the third for the Dominicans. Yankiel Mauris came in to the last out of the inning, but in the ninth he allowed the remaining three runs by the DR, before Andy Vargas got the last out of the inning.
Once again the Cuban team and management receive a lesson on how modern baseball is played, there were several precise decisions that influenced the result of the game, such as the overuse of Leodan Reyes in the seventh inning when he was no longer dominant and consequently the late use of left-hander Geonel Gutiérrez.
A poor offensive performance was once again prevalent for the Cubans, but this issue is no longer something that surprises the fans these days who have followed the latest international tournaments in which Cuban teams hae participatd. Joely Rodríguez notched victory and Leodan Reyes took the loss.
Cuba only had six hits, Alfredo Despaigne was the only one who hitter to have multihits (4-2, R, K) on the night, while Roel Santos, Yoan Moncada, Yadir Drake and Andrys Pérez accounted for all the other hits. Tomorrow morning Cuba will play again from 05:30 AM (Cuba time), against Korea and with Liván Moinelo taking the mound.
Cuban action on the night:
Lineup:
1.Roel Santos (LF): 4-1, BB
2.Yoan Moncada (3B): 5-1, 2K
3.Erisbel Arruebarrena (SS): 4-0, 2K
4.Alfredo Despaigne (DH): 4-2, R, K
5.Ariel Martínez (1B): 3-0, HBP
6.Yadir Drake (RF): 3-1, BB, K
7.Yoelkis Guibert (CF): 3-0, BB, K, E
8.Andrys Pérez (C): 1-1, 2BB
Rafael Viñales: 1-0
9.Yadil Mujica (2B): 3-0, K, E
Pitching:
Yoennis Yera: 6.0 IP, 3H, 0ER, 5K
Leodan Reyes: 0.2 IP, H, 2ER, 2BB, K, L (0-1)
Geonel Gutiérrez: 0.1 IP, 0H, 0ER
Frank Abel Álvarez: 0.2 IP, 2H, ER, BB
Yankiel Mauris: 1.0 IP, 2H, 3ER, BB, K
Andy Vargas: 0.1 IP, 0H, 0ER, K