The Cuban pitcher Víctor Mederos confidently closed the ninth inning on Wednesday in the Atlanta Braves' 6-5 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers, earning his third win of the season in Major League Baseball with an impeccable performance on the mound.
The pitcher born in Santa Clara retired the three batters he faced without allowing any hits or runs, and he notched two strikeouts against Tommy Edman and Alek Thomas to seal the outcome.
Through just 20 pitches —12 of them in the strike zone— Mederos completed the inning with two swings and misses and a fastball that reached 98.2 miles per hour at its peak.
MLB Español highlighted the performance with a video of the strikeout and the pitcher's reaction: "Víctor Mederos with a crucial zero for the Braves. What a strikeout!".
With this performance, the player from Villa Clara improved his record to 3-0 in the 2026 season and reduced his ERA to 3.28 over 24.2 innings pitched, during which he has allowed nine earned runs and accumulated 25 strikeouts.
The numbers reflect the consistency he has shown in the Atlanta bullpen: opposing batters are hitting just .209 against him, one of the strongest records among the team's relievers.
Mederos joined the Braves on April 3, exchanged from the Los Angeles Angels in return for funds from the international bonus pool, and was called up to the active roster on July 8 from Triple-A Gwinnett.
Since then, he has gained prominence within a group of relievers that also includes other Cubans such as Raisel Iglesias and Daysbel Hernández.
Mederos' performance comes at a time of strong collective performance for Atlanta, which holds a record of 78-55 for the season and is fighting for a spot in the postseason.
The Cuban baseball player is part of a generation of players from the Island who have reached MLB through the American university system, having grown up in the Miami area. Cuba has 29 active players in Major League Baseball this season, a historically high number.
At 25 years old, Mederos continues to establish himself as a reliable member of Atlanta's bullpen, and his perfect record of three wins with no losses positions him as one of the most promising Cuban relievers in the current season.
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