[jksander]

MAY 3, 1963 . . . Jose Guzman (4-3, 4.58 ERA, 78.2 IP, 21 K’s, 1.70 WHIP) pitched in game one against the Bombadiers’ Carlos Ravelo (3-3, 3.80 ERA, 47.1 IP, 23 K’s, 1.67 WHIP) at Bombadiers Stadium. We got going quickly, Victor Diaz batting in a run to put us on the board, then loading the bases and driving in another with a single by Jose Colon! Logan Holmes scored two more with a single of his own into center, and we had a 4-0 lead before Guzman even had to throw a pitch. The Bombadiers got on the baord with a run in the bottom of the second on two outs, scoring on a flyout to center, but we got out of the inning without any further damage. We loaded the bases and walked in a run with one out in the top of the fourth, and then Santos hit a bases-clearing double to make it 8-1! With the bases loaded again in the top of the sixth, Antonio Fernandez drove in two more runs with a double, and Juan Flores scored from third on a flyout moments later to give us an 11-1 lead. Guzman loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh, and the Bombadiers got a run off a sac-fly to left before he shut them down with a strikeout and a groundout to end the inning. Logan Holmes batted in a run with one out in the top of the eighth, and Gonzalez hit one deep into the left corner, driving in another with a double! Bayamo got a run back in the bottom of the eighth, but we still led by ten heading into the top of the ninth, and Guzman shut them down quietly in the bottom of the inning to complete the 13-3 victory.

Guzman only allowed eight hits in his complete game, striking out eight and walking seven and allowing just three earned runs, giving him a 5-3 record and a 4.41 ERA. We outhit them 18-8, led by Cantimori with four hits and three runs, while Holmes added three hits and a walk, scoring one and driving in three to give him 15 RBIs and a .510 average through 51 plate appearances.
 
MAY 4, 1963 . . . Roberto Diaz (3-4, 5.59 ERA, 46.2 IP, 26 K’s, 1.91 WHIP) got the start tonight against Marcus Yanez (5-2, 5.97 ERA, 57.1 IP, 24 K’s, 2.06 WHIP). We took the lead in the top of the second with an RBI double by Antonio Fernandez, but the Bombadiers tied it up in the bottom of the fourth with a solo homer into the left field stands, and they took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI double. They padded the lead with another run in the bottom of the sixth, and though Diaz kept them from scoring any extra runs after that point, we still went into the top of the ninth trailing by a pair, and the way we were hitting tonight, that was an insurmountable lead. We lost this one 3-1, just no match against their lockdown defense in the infield this evening.

Roberto Diaz slipped to 3-5 with a 5.27 ERA, allowing just seven hits with four strikeouts, two walks and three earned runs, numbers that any other day would have gotten him a win. They outhit us 7-5, with only Cantimori getting more than one hit, and his two got him nowhere. Fernandez batted in our only run, and Santos scored it on the ground.

MAY 5, 1963 . . . Ludovic Peltier (4-4, 4.19 ERA, 68.2 IP, 36 K’s, 1.46 WHIP) got the start in game three, going up against Tony Hernandez (1-5, 6.30 ERA, 50.0 IP, 17 K’s, 1.98 WHIP). Victor Diaz batted in our first run of the night with a single, and then a second run scored when Victor Santos hit a flyout, thanks to a throwing error at third base. Fernandez batted in another with a single, and Colon hit one off the center field wall, stretching for a triple that brought home two more runs, sending us into the bottom of the first leading 5-0. Fernandez hit another run-scoring single in the top of the third, and the Bombadiers finally got on the board with an RBI single in the bottom of the third. They added another moments later with an RBI double, but Peltier got out of the inning without further incident. Logan Holmes picked up an RBI single in the top of the fifth, and Fernando brought another run home with an infield hit in the top of the sixth, building our lead up to 8-2! Peltier got in trouble and loaded the bases without an out in the bottom of the sixth, but he got a quick putout at home plate, and then a quick double play for outs at home and first to escape unscathed! He wasn’t as lucky in the seventh, walking in a run with the bases loaded and forcing us to bring in Juan Ortiz with one out to close out the threat. Ortiz allowed a run with a single to cut the lead to four, but a flyout to left held the runners, and he got through it with a strikeout to send us into the eighth leading still by four. With the bases loaded and one out, bottom of the ninth, all the runners held on a flyout to center, and a hit into a fielder’s choice ended this one as an 8-4 victory!

Peltier improved to 5-4 with a 4.32 ERA, allowing eight hits with four strikeouts, walking eight and allowing all four of our earned runs, lasting 6.1 innings. Ortiz then came in for 2.2 innings and picked up a save, with three hits, two walks and two strikeouts improving his ERA to 8.04. We outhit them (barely) 12-11, led by Antonio Fernandez with four hits, a walk, two runs and three RBIs. Holmes picked up two hits and is now batting .491 with six doubles. We’re off tomorrow and then will play three games against the Naturals in Nuevitas. (Field pictured below)