2017-2018 Cuban National League

The 2017-2018 Cuban season used the same format as 2016-2017. The league saw two teams with less than glorious histories square off for the title. Granma had just won its first title the prior year, while Las Tunas had never won. Granma had upset Matanzas in the playoffs to get a shot to defend their championship.

In the first game of the finals, January 20, Las Tunas led 6-1 after 3 before winding up with a 6-5 win. Diego Granado got the win in relief of Yoalkis Cruz, while José Angel García notched the save. Lázaro Blanco, the prior season's MVP, was rocked for six runs in 2 1/3 IP before Yanier González and César García turned in scoreless relief. 2B Yunior Paumier drove in three for Las Tunas while C Yosvani Alarcón scored three. In a losing cause, 1B Guillermo Avilés homered twice and they got three hits apiece from CF Roel Santos, SS Yordan Manduley and 3B Raúl González. In game 2, Las Tunas scored six in the first, notching four runs off Ulfrido García (who retired none) and two more off Yosver Zulueta in 1/3 of an inning. Alejandro Meneses got the win with six shutout relief innings after replacing Yariel Rodríguez. 3B Yordanis Alarcón rapped four hits, his brother Yosvani got three, as did LF Jorge Yhonson. 1B Rafael Viñales drove in three.

Granma battled back on January 23 when the series moved to their home in Bayamo. Like Las Tunas in games 1 and 2, they burst out of the gate, scoring six in 1/3 of an inning off Vladimir Baños. 3B Raúl González hit a 3-run homer in the first and finished with 4 RBI while both CF Santos and 2B Carlos Benítez finished with three hits. Alaín Sánchez, pitching for the first time in 15 days, got the win despite 5 runs in 6 2/3 IP in a 10-6 victory. Granma tied the series a day later in the first game where both starters did a good job; Luis Gómez (Las Tunas) outdueled Blanco, 2-1, entering the bottom of the 8th, but CF Santos led off the inning with a hit-and-error play. Las Tunas turned to José Angel García, perhaps the greatest closer in Cuban annals, but he served up a game-tying hit to SS Manduley. Avilés was retired, then LF Alfredo Despaigne was intentionally walked. 2B Benítez drove in both runners to give Granma the win. In a losing cause, CF Yuniesky Larduet was 3 for 3 with two doubles; both leadoff man were 3-for-3 as Santos matched him. Leandro Martínez got the win in relief while Raidel Martínez struck out the last batter for the save.

Granma continued their hot run at home by winning Game 5 on the 25th, with a 11-5 pasting that included a 7-run third. Raúl González was 4 for 4 with two homers and five RBI while Yordanis Alarcón was 4 for 4 with two RBI for Las Tunas. Ulfrido García was not good (10 H, 5 R in 5 1/3 IP) but better than in game 2, to get the win; Raidel Martínez worked the final 2 2/3 for the save. Cruz, the regular-season win leader, took the loss. With the series returning to Las Tunas, the home team won for the 6th game in a row. Baños was much better than in game 3 but Granma led 2-0 after 5 1/2; Baños finished with 4 hits and 2 runs (1 earned) in 7 then José Angel García avenged his game 4 disappointment with two innings without a hit, run or walk. Leandro Martínez stifled the hosts through five but they tied it in the 6th and Raidel Martínez took over. In the bottom of the 9th, with one out, the 8th and 9th hitters came up with 3B Yordanis Alarcón and RF Andrés Quiala. Alarcón singled then Quiala singled as well for his third hit of the day. CF Larduet hit into a force at second; on the play, Alarcón overran third and was tagged out by Raúl González on the throw back in to seemingly force extra innings. On video replay, though, the call was reversed! A passed ball advanced Larduet while Alarcón held at third. With a base open, LF Yhonson was intentionally walked to bring up 41-year-old DH Danel Castro. He hit one out for a seeming grand slam - but again appearances were deceiving. As Castro was mobbed by teammates after touching first and never finished circling the bases, the play was ruled a game-winning single rather than homer as per rule 9.06.

The visitors took their first game in game 7, as Granma defended their title. They pecked away early. In the first, SS Manduley had a one-out single off Yariel Rodríguez and was grounded over by Avilés. LF Despaigne walked and 2B Benítez singled for the first of three hits, scoring Manduley. In the 5th, RF Yoelkis Céspedes and CF Santos singled; after a wild pitch, Manduley hit a sacrifice fly. In the 6th, Despaigne doubled, Benítez singled and DH Lázaro Cedeño was plunked. 3B Raúl González hit a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0. Granado and José Angel García pitched shutout relief the rest of the win for Las Tunas, but Granma had the lead they needed. Game 3 victor Alaín Sánchez was dominant, throwing eight shutout innings with three hits and no walks entering the 9th. He finally flagged in the bottom of the 9th; CF Larduet singled for his third hit (his teammates having combined for one to that point) and Yhonson tripled him in. Raidel Martínez was summoned to face the guy who took him deep a day earlier in the bottom of the 9th - DH Castro. This time, Castro only managed a shallow fly out. C Yosvani Alarcón singled in Yhonson to make it a game, 3-2; it looked like Las Tunas may rally for the second straight day in the 9th. Yosvani Alarcón then tried to steal but broke early and Raidel Martínez picked him off. That play proved crucial as SS Alexander Ayala and 2B Paumier followed with back-to-back singles to put the potential winning run aboard. After both had pinch-runners replace them, 1B Viñales flew out to end it.

Standings

Team	Classification Phase	Secondary Phase	Manager
Matanzas	28-17	33-12	Víctor Figueroa
Las Tunas	30-15	29-16	Pablo Alberto Civil
Industriales	34-11	17-28	Víctor Mesa
Granma	26-19	23-20	Carlos Martí
Pinar del Rio	27-18	14-31	Pedro Luis Lazo
Artemisa	25-20	17-26	Dany Valdespino
Ciego de Ávila	24-21	--	Roger Machado
Villa Clara	23-22	--	Vladimir Hernández Solas
Sancti Spíritus	23-22	--	José R. Delgado
Santiago de Cuba	21-24	--	Orestes Kindelán
Camagüey	20-25	--	Orlando González
Isla de la Juventud	20-25	--	Jose Luis Rodríguez Pantoja
Holguín	17-28	--	Noelvis González
Mayabeque	17-28	--	Vannoy Arado
Guantánamo	14-31	--	Roberto Borrero
Cienfuegos	11-34	--	Jesús Gómez

Playoffs

• Semi-finals
• Granma 4, Matanzas 1
• Las Tunas 4, Industriales 3

• Championship Series
• Granma 4, Las Tunas 3

Leaders

Bold indicates either wooden bat record or aluminum bat record (1976-1977 to 1998-1999), Italics indicate Serie Nacional record

Where two teams are listed, the player switched teams at the half

Batting

Stat	Leader	Team	Number	Notes
Batting Average	Jorge Yhonson	Las Tunas	.408
Runs Scored	Guillermo Avilés	Granma	71
Base Hits	Jorge Yhonson	Las Tunas	126
Doubles	Yunior Paumier	Holguín/Las Tunas	25
Triples	Lázaro Hernández Yuniesky Larduet	Artemisa Las Tunas	6
Home Runs	Lázaro Cedeño	Granma	20
Runs Batted In	Rafael Viñales	Las Tunas	80
Base-on-Balls	Frederich Cepeda	Sancti Spíritus/Pinar del Río	109
Intentional Base-on-Balls	Frederich Cepeda	Sancti Spíritus/Pinar del Río	33
Hit-by-Pitch	Yoelkis Céspedes	Granma	16
Strikeouts	Eduardo Blanco	Matanzas	58
Sacrifice Hit	Yuniesky Larduet	Las Tunas	19
Sacrifice Fly	Yariel Duque Carlos Benítez Lázaro Cedeño Yordanis Samón	Artemisa Granma Granma Industriales	7
Stolen Bases	Eduardo Blanco Yuniesky Larduet	Matanzas Las Tunas	21

Pitching

Stat	Leader	Team	Number	Notes
Wins	Yoalkis Cruz	Las Tunas	14
Win-Loss Percentage	Luis Gómez	Industriales/Las Tunas	.800	8-2
Earned Run Average	Roy Hernández	Matanzas	1.639	96 IP
Innings Pitched	Dachel Duquesne	Ciego de Ávila Matanzas	143 1/3
Games Pitched	Israel Sánchez	Artemisa	37
Games Started	Yoalkis Cruz	Las Tunas	21
Games Relieved	Israel Sánchez	Artemisa	37
Complete Games	Dachel Duquesne	Ciego de Ávila Matanzas	9
Shutouts	Lázaro Blanco Ulfrido García David Mena Denis Castillo	Granma Santiago de Cuba/Granma Industriales Industriales	2
Hits Allowed	Yoalkis Cruz	Las Tunas	139
Strikeouts	Yoanni Yera	Matanzas	152
Base-on-Balls	Geonel Gutiérrez	Artemisa	55
Intentional Base-on-Balls	Vladimir García	Ciego de Ávila/Artemisa	12
Hit Batters	Yoalkis Cruz Jayner Rodríguez	Las Tunas Mayabeque	11
Saves	José Angel García	Artemisa	20

All-Star Game

On October 22, 2017, the 2017-18 All-Star Game took place at Capitán San Luis Stadium in Pinar del Río, Pinar del Río. The Orientales beat the Occidentales, 6-4, in a game cut short in the 7th inning by rain. DH Lázaro Cedeño scored three runs for the Orientales and Yoalkis Cruz got the win with two shutout innings. Noelvis Entenza took the loss.

Award Winners

Las Tunas' Rafael Viñales won the Serie Nacional MVP after batting .373/.481/.592 with a league-high 80 RBI. His teammate Ángel Sánchez Pérez was named Serie Nacional Rookie of the Year after posting a 6-4, 3.16 record.

Postseason All-Stars were C Yosvany Alarcón (Las Tunas), 1B Rafael Viñales (Las Tunas), 2B Yunior Paumier (Holguín/Las Tunas), SS Yordan Manduley (Holguín/Artemisa), 3B Lázaro Hernández (Artemisa), OF Frederich Cepeda (Sancti Spíritus/Pinar del Río), OF Jorge Jhonson (Las Tunas), OF Norel González (Villa Clara), UT Michael González (Mayabeque) and DH Lázaro Cedeño (Granma). Roy Hernández (Matanzas) was named the top right-handed pitcher, Yoannis Yera (Matanzas) the top left-handed pitcher and José Angel García (Artemisa) the top closer.

Gold Glove winners were C Olber Peña (Pinar del Río), 1B Guillermo Avilés (Granma), 2B Carlos Benítez (Granma), SS Jorge Alomá (Artemisa), 3B Osvaldo Abreu (Granma), LF Jorge Jhonson (Las Tunas), CF Joasán Guillén (Industriales), RF Ariel Sánchez (Matanzas) and P Freddy Asiel Álvarez (Industriales/Villa Clara).