[jksander]

APRIL 26, 1963 . . . I have decided to move Salinas and Rocchigiani out of the bullpen and back to the reserve roster, bringing Juan Ortiz back up to join the bullpen with Aguirre. I’m also bringing shorstop Fernando Esquivel back up as an extra bat and defensive option behind Brisset as we get into the heart of the season. Tonight we started Ludovic Peltier (3-2, 3.56 ERA, 55.2 IP, 24 K’s, 1.47 WHIP) against Pinar del Rio’s Luis Moncada (1-5, 4.29 ERA, 56.2 IP, 29 K’s, 1.64 WHIP). With one out in the bottom of the first, Victor Diaz hit a double that drove in two runs to get us on the board, and Cantimori hit a double that drove in two more, before he got picked off trying to turn it into a triple, sending us into the top of the third with a 4-0 lead. Flores hit an RBI double in the bottom of the fifth, and another run scored on a sac-fly to left by Santos, extending our lead to six runs heading into the sixth. The Roosters scored a run off a sac-fly to right in the top of the sixth, but Castro drove in a pair with a double in the bottom of the inning to extend our lead, Cantimori added an RBI double, and another run scored on a fielder’s choice, By the time they came up to bat again in the top of the seventh, we’d added seven runs to our tally and led by a staggering 13-1 margin. We walked in a run and then Colon hit a three-run triple in the bottom of the seventh and another scored in the bottom of the eighth. Peltier stayed out to complete the rout, as we throttled the Roosters 18-1.

Peltier improved to 4-2 with a four-hitter, striking out nine batters and walking only two as he allowed just one earned run and improved his ERA on the year to 3.20. We out-hammered the Roosters 17-4, led by leadoff-man Jose Castrol with four hits, five runs and two RBIs! Cantimori added three hits, four runs and three RBIs, making those two responsible for more than half our scoring output! Every starter wound up with at least a hit.

APRIL 27, 1963 . . . Jose Guzman (3-3, 4.60 ERA, 62.2 IP, 14 K’s, 1.64 WHIP) started tonight against Mahjoub Andongwisye (1-5, 13.36 ERA, 33.0 IP, 10 K’s, 2.55 ERA. Juan Flores hit an RBI single in the bottom of the first to put us ahead 1-0, and with the bases loaded we walked in a second run with two outs, taking a 2-0 lead into the second inning. The Roosters scored a run in the top of the fourth thanks to an error on a put-out attempt at home plate, but we got the run back in the bottom of the fifth when Victor Santos and Logan Holmes hit RBI singles, sending us into the top of the sixth with a 4-1 lead. Cantimori hit an RBI triple in the bottom of the sixth, and Victor Diaz doubled him home to extend our lead to five runs. Guzman struggled in the top of the seventh, loading the bases and walking in a run, but he got out of it without a ton of damage, sending us into the stretch leading 6-2. We loaded the bases in the bottom of the eighth, Logan Holmes walked in a run, and Colon doubled in two more to put this one away. Guzman stayed out to complete the game, and we won this one easily 9-2.

Guzman improved to 4-3 despite allowing eight walks and seven hits, handing the Roosters just two earned runs as he improved his ERA to 4.27. We outhit them 13-7, led by Holmes who hit four times, walked once, and drove in two runs. Cantimori was also excellent, hitting twice, walking twice and scoring three while driving in a run as well. Holmes is now batting .548 through 11 appearances since signing his two year contract back on the 11th of April, and the 34-year-old has wasted absolutely no time putting himself on the rest of the league’s radar.
 
APRIL 28, 1963 . . . We head into tonight’s final game against Pinar del Rio tied for first place in the division with the Cienfuegos Cubanos at 13-10, so completing the sweep would mean a great deal at this still-early point in the regular season. Roberto Diaz (3-3, 5.40 ERA, 33.1 IP, 19 K’s, 1.86 WHIP) got the start, facing Juan Hernandez (3-2, 3.77 ERA, 31.0 IP, 9 K’s, 1.45 WHIP). So of course the Roosters came out hot, going up 2-0 on an inside the park homer by their second baseman Ruben Gonzalez in the top of the first. They batted in another run with a single, and then Diaz gave up two more on a single before finally striking out their final batter and sending us into the bottom of the FIRST trailing by five runs. Victor Santos got us on the board with an RBI single, and we added a pair thanks to a Juan Flores double, sending us into the second inning trailing by only two, down 5-3. But Diaz again struggled to get anyone out once he had his first two, allowing a three-run homer to put them back up by five runs, and I started warming up Juan Ortiz to play the role of spot starter if it should become necessary. We picked up an RBI single by Cantimori with two outs in the bottom of the second, and Diaz held on to get us through the fifth inning without any further offensive explosions. In the top of the sixth, however, they hit an RBI double to extend their lead to five runs, and we brought Ortiz in to pitch with one out and the man on second. They scored their 10th run off an RBI single, but Ortiz got out of the inning without surrendering a run of his own though we now trailed by six runs. They added two more runs in the seventh, and we finally got one of our own with one out in the bottom of the eighth to get us within seven. Needing seven runs in the bottom of the ninth to force this game to continue, Flores hit a one-out double to bat in a run, but that was all we could muster -- Holmes grounded out to first to end this slog as a 12-6 defeat.

Roberto Diaz dug himself an early hole and never found a way out, allowing 13 hits and 10 runs (seven earned) in 5.1 innings, striking out five against no walks. Juan Ortiz got us through the remaining 3.2 innings with four hits, two walks, two strikeouts and two earned runs. Diaz is now 3-4 with a 6.28 ERA, while Ortiz’s is at 11.57 through 18.2 innings. The Roosters outhit us 17-13, with Victor Diaz leading the way with three hits, a walk and two runs on the ground. Flores hit twice, batting in three runs.