HAVANA, Cuba, Dec 3 (ACN) With another great pitching performance by left-hander Naykel Cruz and excellent batting productivity, the Cuban baseball team defeated Venezuela 9-1 and won the bronze medal at the First Junior Pan American Games, held at the Edgar Renteria stadium in Barranquilla, Colombia.
Cruz relied on his fastball combined with breaking pitches to reduce the Venezuelan offense to one hit in 5.0 innings, in which he struck out seven times and gave up four walks.
If we add this victory to the one he obtained in the qualifying round against Brazil, his overall record was two wins, with 11.2 innings without allowing runs, in which he struck out 18 times.
Cuba hit eight singles including a double by Pestano (catcher) and a home run by Garcia (sixth bat) in the fruitful sixth inning in which they scored eight runs with five hits and three tickets, including an intentional one to Revilla (third bat), the best Cuban hitter in the whole tournament.
