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Cuba fell 2-7 this Wednesday against Canada at the Hiram Bithorn Stadium and saw its hopes of advancing to the quarter-finals fade away in the VI World Baseball Classic.
The Antillean team fought a tense battle in the Puerto Rican afternoon, where the limited offensive output and an erratic defense eventually took their toll against a team that capitalized on every weakness of its opponent.
The Northerners opened the scoring in the third inning with a sacrifice fly by Owen Caissie, after Cuban catcher Andry Pérez committed a passed ball with two runners on base.
It was the only run allowed by the left-handed Liván Moinelo in three and two-thirds innings of work, during which he walked three batters, struck out four, and allowed the same number of hits, including a double.
His substitute, Yariel Rodríguez, poorly defended, worked 1.2 innings and was unable to prevent four runs —two unearned— which tipped the balance of the game.
A home run by Abraham Toro in the fifth inning, a two-run double by Bo Naylor, and a two-run single by Otto López in the sixth inning dashed Cuba's hopes.
In that chapter, there is a mistake by the waiter Yiddi Cappé and an interference from Andrys, who had a game to forget, nothing in line with his quality as a catcher.
Cal Quantrill, the winning pitcher, threw a five-inning outing with four strikeouts and one walk. Germán Mesa's team managed to score a run before he headed to the bench, combining that walk and an error in a throw by the pitcher himself with a ground ball to the infield by Yoelquis Guibert.
Reliever Indigo Díaz allowed Ariel Martínez's third hit of the afternoon, which drove in a run for the Caribbean team, but Adam Macko, after loading the bases with four balls, struck out the next batter, ending a potential comeback.
The Canadians added another run in the eighth against Yoan López thanks to a two-out RBI single by Josh Naylor, and another in the ninth on a single by Caissie, with Raidel Martínez on the mound.
The rest was taken care of by the rescuers James Paxton and Eric Cersntola, who kept the Cuban players silent in the last third of the game.
With this setback, the largest of the Antilles concluded its journey in group A with a record of two victories and two defeats, a result insufficient to remain in the tournament.
Canada, which finished with a record of three wins and one loss, secured the top spot in its group ahead of Puerto Rico and advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time in the history of this competition.
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