Cuba Defeats Puerto Rico Again

Complete Coverage of the Americas Olympic Qualifier

By Eric Edwards
November 10, 2003

PANAMA CITY, Panama--This is what usually happens with sequels.

The script wasn’t nearly as compelling as the first, and the finished product was hard for Puerto Rico to sit through Sunday. Cuba scored a knockout in its return match with Puerto Rico, winning 10-0 to earn one of the two spots at stake here for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

Puerto Rico had already lost to Cuba, 4-2 in pool play a week earlier. At a nearly empty Estadio Nacional Sunday, they took the count after seven innings, unraveling after a tense first five innings.

"This is the worst game we played here by far," said Puerto Rico manager Sandy Alomar Sr. "We had played the Cubans tough the first time, and it looked like we were going to do so again, but a couple of bad pitches in the sixth got us going in the wrong direction, and it all came apart after that."

Puerto Rico had its opportunities against a Cuban powerhouse that has not lost in an international tournament since Ben Sheets and Team USA blanked the Cubans in the gold-medal game at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. This has come despite the defection of top pitchers Jose Contreras and Maels Rodriguez, and the Cubans won in Panama without first baseman Kendry Morales, perhaps their best young hitter, after he was sent home out of fear he would defect.

Puerto Rico had some chances. A drive by Angel Pagan (Mets) came up five feet short of giving the Puerto Ricans a 3-1 lead in the third, and Omar Garcia just missed hitting a two-run home run in the fifth when his drive hooked foul. On two other occasions Puerto Rico put runners on first and second base with two outs, but was shut down by righthander Vichoandry Odelin, the same pitcher who handcuffed them the first time.

The loss was Puerto Rico’s third in five games at this nine-country tournament, ending a run that took them within a victory of Athens. The Puerto Ricans will face Mexico in a meaningless third place today at 4 p.m. (local time).

Cuba will face Canada in a game Cuban manager Higinio Velez said he’ll treat "the same as any other championship game," even though the team’s mission here already has been accomplished.

"This game has a lot of significance for Cuban baseball," said Velez. "A lot of people are saying that this team isn’t what it was. We’ve won the World (Cup), the Pan American games and every tournament since the last Olympics. I think we’ve shown that this team has been renovated, that we are still on the top of the heap."

Odelin wasn’t as dominant in his second outing against Puerto Rico, but was easily good enough, allowing five hits over seven shutout innings and striking out five. In his first outing against the Puerto Ricans Odelin struck out 12 and allowed Puerto Rico just three hits and two runs over eight innings.

"They had seen me once already, so they made their adjustments," said Odelin. "But I was able to get the outs I needed to get."

Just as they did in their 5-0 victory over Brazil Friday, the Cubans started slowly on offense before getting in gear in the middle innings against Josue Matos (Mariners), who had an outing similar to his first start against the Cubans last Sunday.

Michel Enriquez deposited Matos’ first mistake over the left-field fence for a quick 1-0 lead in opening inning, but Matos retired the next 11 hitters he faced before Frederich Cepeda hit the first pitch of the fifth inning well over the right-field wall for a 2-0 advantage.

"He left a changeup up in the zone," said Enriquez, who also plated Cuba’s first runs Saturday with a two-run home run. "I’m a line-drive hitter, but I if I get a mistake I’m capable of hitting it out. The last two games I’ve taken advantage of pitchers’ mistakes."

Cuba put the game away in the sixth as Matos tired and Puerto Rico’s bullpen and defense poured gas on the fire.

Eduardo Paret started the rally with a leadoff single and took third on a perfect hit-and-run single by Enriquez. Alomar then turned to Orlando Roman, who threw two straight strikes to Yulieski Gourriel before uncorking a wild pitch that allowed Paret to score.

Eriel Sanchez then plated Enriquez with a double down the left-field line for Cuba’s fourth run, and after a wild pitch and walk by Stevenson Agosto, Roberquis Videaux hit a roller through the left side to plate Sanchez. On that play, Puerto Rico left fielder Hiram Bocachica threw wildly to third base trying to get Cepeda, allowing him to score and Videaux to reach third. A wild pitch by reliever Giancarlo Alvarado brought home Videaux with Cuba’s fifth and final run of the inning.

They ended it for good in the eighth on an RBI single by Gourriel and an error by Puerto Rico third basemen Jose Flores that allowed the game’s final two runs to score.