(Press Release; WBSC-AMERICAS BASEBALL).- The national teams of Venezuela Vinotinto and Azul, secured their ticket to the final, after the results of Monday night, while Cuba and Nicaragua will play for the bronze medal.
After a first day in which Venezuela swept in both duels, on Sunday the competition intensified when the Venezuela Vinotinto team beat Nicaragua 6-2, but then Cuba's 8-7 victory against the Venezuela Azul team complicated things.
Venezuela Vinotinto relied on solid pitching work from Brayan Salaya who threw four innings in which he allowed four hits, two earned runs, two walks and five strikeouts to score the victory. Wilgenis Alvarado got the save by pitching the final three innings, allowing three hits with four strikeouts.
Meanwhile Cuba ambushed Venezuela Azul, who scored five runs in the sixth inning to take a 7-3 lead, but Cuba responded with another five in the bottom of the inning to take the game 8-7.
For Cuba, Christian García stood out, batting 1-for-3 with two RBIs, Carlos Monier, also hit 2-for-3 with another two RBIs, and Darian Palma went 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI.
On Monday everything became clear, Cuba shutout Nicaragua 7-0, who only managed one hit. Brilliant performance from the mound by three pitchers, Miguel Neira scored the win by allowing one hit and giving up three walks with six strikeouts in five innings. Luis Serpa and Marlon Venga pitched the final two hitless innings, walking one and striking out three combined.
Everything was defined when Venezuela Azul beat the undefeated Venezuela Vinotinto team by score 2-1, that victory forced to go to the team quality balance formula to determine the finalists and game for the bronze medal.
In short, the numbers show that this Wednesday Venezuela Vinotinto will be the home club against Venezuela Azul for the gold medal, before that Cuba will play as host versus Nicaragua for the bronze medal.
Venezuela secures gold and silver medals in baseball at the ALBA Games in this V edition of 2023.
(Media Department; WBSC-AMERICAS BASEBALL)
