Cuba against Mexico in Caribbean Series of Baseball

The Cuban squad Pinar del Río Vegueros is faced today with Los Tomateros de Culiacan from Mexico in the first game of the Caribbean Baseball Series, underway in the Puerto Rican city of San Juan.

Alfonso Urquiola, the Cuban head coach, announced as starter the stellar right-handed Freddy Asiel Alvarez, who also played for the Villa Clara Oranges in the last edition of the Caribbean Classic, held in early 2014 in the island of Margarita, Venezuela.

Alvarez stands out for his performance in this National Series with excellent ERA of 1.63, product of just 15 earned runs in 82.2 innings while the opponent batting average is of .226, in addition to 61 strikeouts.

Culiacan Tomateros’ starter will be the American lefty Anthony Vasquez, who was elected the most valuable player in the recent final of the Mexican Pacific League by achieving two of the four wins valid to reach the crown against Jalisco Charros.

The debut of the Cuban team will be at 12:05 p.m. –Eastern Time, at Hiram Bithorn Stadium, in San Juan, where it will also take place the official opening of the tournament, and then the match between the Venezuelan team Anzoategui Caribes and the local squad the Santurce Cangrejeros.

Pinar del Río Vegueros carry the banner of Cuba in its second consecutive appearance in the Caribbean Baseball Series, again as guest country, intending to erase the pale performance of last year’s edition in Margarita Island.

According to the tournament schedule, the disciples of Alfonso Urquiola will face from February 3 to 5 the sides of the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Venezuela –in that order, looking for one of the tickets to the semifinals on day seventh.