First Strike to the Crown

Las Tunas won 6-5 n the first game of the finals of the Cuban ball.

GRA 5 12 0
LTU 6 10 2
W: DIEGO GRANADO (1-0)
L: LÁZARO BLANCO (1-2)
S: JOSÉ ÁNGEL GARCÍA (2)
HRS: GUILLERMO AVILÉS (3rd and 4th)

Las Tunas.- LOS Lumberjacks of Las Tunas struck first in the finals of the 57 National Baseball Series. The six runs in the first two innings and one third against starter Lázaro Blanco were enough for the team from Las Tunas. Between the second and third innings the lumberjacks exploited the Granma ace who did not show up this night. Blanco allowed four in the second inning due to three hits, a walk and a sacrifice fly. In the following inning it exploded after allowing two doubles with another walk interspersed to leave the game with an adverse score of 1-6.

Anthony Vásquez

VÁSQUEZ GIVES THE FIRST GAME TO THE TOMATEROS

NAVOJOA, SON. January 20, 2018 (LMP.mx) - Joey Meneses and Andy Wilkins homered, both of two runs, supported the remarkable pitching of Anthony Vásquez, a one-hit job in nine innings that helped the Tomateros de Culiacán defeat the Mayos Navojoa 4 for 0 to start the series for the championship of the 2017-2018 season. The work of Anthony Vásquez (1-0) was splendid after he barely allowed thatone hit during the nine innings, one base on balls (to Max Ramírez in the second inning) and seven strikeouts.
Joey Meneses two run homer,

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Andy Wilkins two run homer,

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The Lions force an extra game against the Eagles

The Leones del Escogido defeated the Tigres del Licey 12-4 on Saturday and will compete in the semi-final series with a sudden death game against the Cibaeñas Eagles, to be held on Sunday at the Cibao stadium, starting at 5:00 a.m. the afternoon.

The Indians approach second position in the winter tournament

The Mayagüez Indians took a step forward towards classification in a game of 'sudden death' when they beat the Cangrejeros de Santurce on Saturday, 6-4, in the only game on the calendar of the Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League. Playing at home , the Indians placed their record at 7-8 and two games ahead of the Carolina Giants (5-10) with three games to play. A combination of a win by the Indians and a loss by Carolina would assure them the third position and the right to play a game of 'sudden death' on Wednesday against the Cangrejeros themselves. In that case, Carolina would be eliminated. With today's victory, the Indians also approach the santurcinos in second place within just one game. The importance of getting second is that the elimination would be held in the house of the one who arrives in that position.

PUERTO RICAN LEAGUE (LBPRC)

Gian Paul Gonzalez (Gigantes de Carolina - Game 1, C) - 0-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K - Gonzalez continues to not play much and struggle when he does. He is batting .143/.143/.190 in seven games this Puerto Rican season. The experience playing against and with veterans, however, is the most important thing for Gian Paul this winter league season. Given his limited playing time and the fact that Gigantes have only one regular season game left, this may be the end of Gonzalez's LBPRC campaign.

ROAD TO THE CARIBBEAN SERIES

The LVBP Serie Final is tied at one game apiece.

The Tomateros hold a two games to none lead in the LMP Serie Final.

The Lenadores de Las Tunas are up two games to zero on the Alazanes de Granma in the Serie Final of the Cuban Serie Nacional.

All series are best-of-7. All Game 3s are on Tuesday.

LIDOM's unique best-of-9 Serie Final format and any travel days during his year's Serie were both casualties of The Round Robin That Would Never End (it was supposed to be over on Tuesday, but a seemingly endless procession of rainouts and the aforementioned one-game playoff stretched LIDOM's second season out all the way to Sunday). The Serie, now best-of-7, will begin on Tuesday and continue with no off days. If game seven is necessary, it will be played next Monday.

The Criollos de Caguas clinched the regular season title (and bye to the best-of-5 Serie Final) in the LBPRC by winning yesterday's nightcap. The other three teams all have a chance to claim one of the two Wild card Game spots on the regular season's final day on Tuesday.

POST-SEASON '2018: LUMBERJACKS WIN IN GAME 2 AND TAKE A 2-0 LEAD IN THE SERIES

Las Tunas.- The manager Pablo Civil will sleep pleasantly today, and he has plenty of reasons for it: his team Las Tunas came out of the offensive lethargy and defeated the defending champion Granma 11-4, to put 2-0 in his favor the great final of the LVII National Baseball Series.

The manager of the Lumberjacks was categorical in stating that he never thought he could win two consecutive games on the road at the Alazanes against seasoned strategist Carlos Martí.

"We are playing against the current national champion and did not see a clear sweep. But the offense made an appearance and the pitching was able to respond to the demands of the powerful batters rivals, "he said.

"Now we will go to Bayamo with the mission to win two games. If we do not succeed, we will try to close the victory here (in Mella); This duel is not yet settled, but our team is in excellent position to get the title, said Civil.

The Eagles sign up for the Final Series when they beat the Lions 7 for 0

SANTIAGO.- Richelson Peña pitched impeccably for seven innings and was supported by two home runs by Danny Santana, for the Cibaeñas Eagles to defeat the Leones del Escogido 7-0, moving on to the Final Series that will start against the Tigres del Licey on Tuesday.

Peña totally handcuffed the red bats for seven innings, retiring 17 batters in a row, only allowed one hit that was a double in the first inning, his control was perfect without walks and fanned three of the 23 he faced.

THE TOMATEROS REPEAT TRIUMPH AGAINST MAYOS

NAVOJOA, SON. January 21, 2018 (LMP.mx) - For the second consecutive night, the visiting pitchers turned out to be a lot of medicine for the Culiacan offense. A rally of four runs in the fourth inning and combined with the work of four pitchers allowed the Tomateros of Culiacan to defeat this Sunday the Mayos of Navojoa by a repeat score of 4 by 0.

The Tomateros are 2 by 0 in the Final Series of the LMP, which will resume in Culiacán starting next Tuesday, being led by starting pitchers Tyler Alexander, a reinforcements for the Mayos and Sergio Miter for Culiacan.

Today Tomateros pitchers forced the Mayos to leave twelve runners on base, getting just one hit on eleven occasions that had runners on the bases.

The triumph went to Edgar González working six innings on four hits, giving away two walks and striking out four, working out of several jams.

Gamboa took the loss after allowing four runs, with six hits in four a third innings, with a walk and six strikeouts.

CAGUAS WITH TICKET TO THE FINAL SERIES AGAIN

The last day of the winter tournament will be dramatic

After Sunday's action, the possibility of a three-way tie for the second position and the search for the rival against the Caguas Criollos in the final is in doubt.

The Carolina Giants needed a miracle to keep alive their aspirations in the Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League.

Today, they won two.

Carolina achieved two wins twice over the Cangrejeros de Santurce in the park Evaristo "Varo" Roldán de Gurabo, these by wcores of 9-1 and 4-3, while the Criollos de Caguas and the Mayagüez Indians split their games 2-1 and 3-1 during the Sunday session at the Isidoro "Cholo" García stadium so that the Giants avoided elimination stay alive at least one more day.

Minus an additional sudden death date to complete the shortened regular season of 18 games per team, the scenario on the way to the postseason presents the Criollos de Caguas as the team that has qualified for the finals while the day on Tuesday will define who will play one or two sudden death games to get the second finalist a ticket to the finals of the tournament.

Carolina is still alive

The scenario of a three-way tie would occur if on Tuesday, the Giants defeat the Cangrejeros once more and the Criollos overcome the Indians.

That scenario would leave Santurce, Mayagüez and Carolina with the same record of 8-10 and would force two sudden death games.

"The rule approved for a triple tie for that second position would be to evaluate the game average between those three teams to place them in order from second to fourth place for that differentiation, then those who finish in third and fourth position would play the first sudden death game, with the winner advancing to another game of sudden death for the ticket to the finals.

Otherwise, Carolina defeating Santurce and Mayagüez on Tuesday defeating the Criollos, the Indians will secure the second position with a 9-9 mark while the Cangrejeros and Gigantes would finish with a record of 8-10, thus being forced to play a sudden death game so that the winner then clashes with the Indians in another game of sudden death for the ticket to the final.

None of that will happen, however, if Santurce beats Carolina on Tuesday, which would eliminate them and then pits the Cangrejeros against Indians to play for the ticket to the finals on Wednesday.

And so it could have been decided if Santurce had won at least one victory today. Likewise, Mayagüez could have made sure to play for the pass to the final on Wednesday if they had defeated the Criollos twice.

Instead, the tournament will reach its final day full of drama and a chance of life for all.

Cardinals blanked Caribes and equals the series

Second game between the Caribs and Cardinals, where the Cardinals would even 1-1 when the Cardinals to beat the Caribes 0-4.

The victory went to Jorge Martínez (1-0) , while the defeat was on the arm of Freddy García (0-1)

Final stage standings

The expected final confrontation between the reigning champion Tigres del Licey and their bitter rival Águilas Cibaeñas will launch tonight at 7:30 in the Quisqueya-Juan Marichal Stadium, opening the hostilities of a series agreed to the best of seven games to be played in consecutive days.

It will be the 21st time that these two giants of Dominican baseball challenge one another in the finals with the previous results favoring the felines 11-9.

The Tigers, winners of 22 crowns since 1951, have won three in the last nine years in which the Eagles and their 20 pennants have suffered an acute drought.

The right handed Curacao Jair Jurrjens (1-0, 2.25), who had two starts in the semifinal series in which he totaled 12 innings with 9 hits, 4 strikeouts and 3 walks, is the selection of Tigers manager Luis Urueta to climb the mound

Jurrjens has been with the club since the first day of the regular season in which he compiled a 3-4 record with a 3.44 ERA in 49.2 innings allowing 48 hits and 16 walks with 30 strikeouts.

In contrast, Lino Rivera, pilot of the Eagles, has decided again to use a lefty against the opponent's lineup loaded with left-handed and ambidextrous batters. Michael Roth (0-0, 2.08) pitched 8 innings in the semifinals with 3 strikeouts and a WHIP of 0.69 will open for the visitors.

Licey and Aguilas faced each other six times in this post season with the Tigers taking the season series with 4 wins. The blue team had a 6-3 mark at home and 5-4 on the road, while the yellow team had a 7-3 home record and only 3-6 as a visitor.

The teams presented in the final series were the best offensive teams in the so-called "round robin" with averages of, 286 and .281 for Tigres and Águilas, respectively. The first ones won that phase with a record of 11-7, scoring 190 runs, while the latter crossed the plate 180 times.

The Eagles, who had shutouts in their last two games, had a slightly better ERA of 3.64 to 3.80 and the Tigers had the most number of strikeouts 148-118.

The Carolina Giants are eliminated

The Indians and Cangrejeros will play tomorrow a sudden death match for the final pass against the Criollos

There will be no complication in resolving the winter league postseason landscape.

The Cangrejeros de Santurce won this afternoon against the Giants of Carolina by 4-1 to eliminate the latter and will result in a sudden death game between the Mayagüez Indians and the Criollos of Caguas on Wednesday for the pass to the finals,

Adalberto Flores pitched five innings and allowed only five hits and one run against the Giants to lead the Cangrejeros to victory. It was the fourth victory without a defeat by the righty in the tournament. He was relieved by four pitchers who limited Carolina's offense to just one single in the next four innings.

Santurce, meanwhile, scored three runs in the same first inning a product of four hits and a base on balls against Raul Rivera, who only worked two thirds innings in the game and was charged with the defeat.

In the other game of the afternoon, the Mayagüez Indians dominated the Criollos 5-4 to tie with Santurce in second place with a 9-9 record. This will force the League to perform a "goal average" analysis to determine who finishes in the second position and will host the sudden death game on Wednesday for the final pass.