Elephants Stop Crocodiles and Force Them to Look at Their Pitching

The Matanzas Crocodiles suffered their first defeat in the 65th National Baseball Series this Tuesday, falling 10-1 to the Cienfuegos Elephants at the Victoria de Girón stadium, in a game where the pitching staff was the main culprit for the setback.

With the result, the team led by Armando Ferrer stands at a record of two wins and one loss, and this Wednesday will seek to secure the particular sub-series against the southerners.

The start was in the hands of Jean Carlos Lorenzo, who took the loss after working 2.2 innings, allowing four earned runs, four hits, and two walks, without strikeouts. From early on, the visitors took the initiative, and the game never balanced out again.

The five pitchers used by Matanzas allowed 15 hits and nine walks; Jorge Isbel Blanco barely retired one-third of an inning and left two runners on base via two hits and two walks. Roylan Averhoff (1.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER) and Haziel Suárez (1.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER) also failed to contain the rival attack.

The only calm spark was the debutant in domestic bat-and-ball contests, David Martínez, with two scoreless innings and one strikeout.

The Matanzas pitchers gave up nine walks and struck out only two batters in total; with only two strikeouts in nine innings, the staff depended on its defense resolving everything, and the Elephants batted freely.

After producing six and two runs in the first two games, the offense was held to one. Hanyelo Videt (4-2, double) and Andrys Pérez (2-1, double, RBI) were the most outstanding in the contest.

The defeat does not erase a solid start but leaves a warning: without control and without depth in the bullpen, the team remains exposed. Ferrer faces the challenge for the next game of adjusting the staff and returning to the offense the aggressiveness of the first days.