• Submitted by: lena campos
• Sports
• 12 / 28 / 2012

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Matanzas won here today 5-0 over Mayabeque in a game of the 52nd Nacional Baseball Series, where the 138 anniversary of the first official baseball game in Cuba was commemorated.

The challenge took place at the Palmar del Junco stadium

of this city, 60 miles east of Havana, where on December 27, 1874 took place that first game between the Havana Baseball Club and Matanzas.

The Matanzas reds defined the game from the first inning, scoring three runs by way of a hit of Ariel Sanchez, the first to touch home, and a double led by Yurisbel Gracial.

The exhibition continued with the opening pitcher Ariel Miranda, who gave an intentional base to Jose Miguel Fernandez, followed by a long-ranging hit by Anibal Medina and with a full house, Yasiel Santoya ushered two more runs with a single to the right field.

Meanwhile, the opener for the Matanzas Crocodiles, Roid Hernandez, summed zeros on the scoreboard, but in the seventh inning, manager Victor Mesa, changed him for Maikel Martinez, who finished the no-run game for Mayabeque.

The home team hammered the last runs at the end of the eighth inning with a homerun by Fernandez, followed by base on balls to Santoya, base stolen and double by Lazaro Herrera. Present at the stadium were Vicepresident Esteban Lazo, the top authorities of Matanzas province, Higinio Velez, president of the National Baseball Federation and famous Matanzas sportspeople.

Matanzas has 15 wins and nine losses in the Series while Mayabeque has 12 wins and the same number of failures.

The game played 138 years ago favored the visitors with 51 runs and only nine for the locals, according to press reports of that time.

Source: Prensa Latina