In this beautiful baseball stadium in Caracas this afternoon {February 6th, 2023} baseball-loving Cuba again looked like the nation not trying to win games in the 65th Caribe Series. The other seven nations -- Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Panama, Puerto Rico, and Curacao -- all appear to be trying mightily to win the Series that is now halfway through its ten-day run that ends on February 10th. The heated competition by the other teams has exacerbated Cuba's lackluster efforts because ESPN Deportes is broadcasting the action for baseball fans to judge for themselves. Cuba's 1-5 record is the only non-competitive result so far and includes Cuba's embarrassing 20-3 loss to Venezuela and then 4 other losses Cuba has lost by just one run...embarrassingly. Today Cuba got good pitching from Cesar Garcia and Andy Vargas but their teammates weirdly gave the game away. Leading 3-2 in the top of the 9th inning, Cuba ended the inning by having a runner getting tagged out at the plate. Then in the last of the 9th with two out and still leading 3-2, the Cuban second baseman weirdly, instead of ending the game with a win, made an error to allow the tying run to score. Then the next batter for Puerto Rico also hit another grounder to second base that scored the winning run and ended the game with yet another Cuban one-run loss. Thus, as much as Cubans love baseball, this embarrassment in the 65th Caribe Series is disheartening. It makes fans wonder...will the same thing happen to Cuba in the 20-nation 5th World Baseball Classic that starts next month with Cuba opening in faraway Taiwan against the Netherlands. ??
😕
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