Cuban hit parade leads Beijing into finals against Shanghai

The Cuban connection has helped blast the Beijing CP Loongs into the finals of Chinese Professional Baseball’s Summer Games and star hitter Raico Santos had had a message to share as he walked off the field Thursday following their 4-2 victory over the Shenzhen Bluesox.

There’s more to come.

“We’re in great form because we came into this season fully prepared to win this championship,” said Santos, after he hit a game- and MVP-winning two home runs and drove in three runs. “Our biggest strength is how well we play together as a team. We work really well with one another, and that allows us to score a lot of runs.”

No kidding.

The run-in to the playoffs saw Beijing bounce nine runs off Fuzhou (in a 9-6 win), and then 14 off Shenzhen (14-3). In their first-round against reigning CPB champions, they rallied with a four-run seventh to take the second game against Shenzhen 7-4, and then had a four-run fifth on Thursday to put the Bluesox away, and to win the series 2-1.

Cuba’s Santos shone on Thursday with a match-turning home run to deep right field in the fifth and he is batting .400 across the post-season so far.

The veteran Cuban manager Noelvis González García has strength in depth when it comes to his compatriots, with the Loongs also featuring a red-hot Alfredo Despaigne. He took the MVP in Game Two against Shenzhen – with a two-run home run at the top of the ninth – and is batting .500 with three runs and five RBI this post-season. The win in Game Three went to – you guessed it – a Cuban in Luis M. Romero (ERA 2.13).

“Every time I come up to bat, I try to make the most of the opportunity and do the best I can,” said the veteran Despaigne. “I try to give the team whatever it needs.”

Beijing started the season slow before finding their form. At one stage they were 2-4 before ending the regular season 9-5, and they’ll be facing in the best-of-three finals another team who have warmed to the task the longer this season has gone on in the Shanghai Orcas.

The locals – the finals are being staged at Shanghai’s Xuhui West Bund Baseball Field – were off to a 0-4 start before drafting in some power with the likes of Denzel Richardson, once of the Colorado Rockies system, and squeezing into the post-season at 8-7.

They fell a game behind to the league-leading Xiamen Dolphins (12-3) in their first-round series before another Cuban in Henry Urrutia’s two runs lifted them to a 5-4 win in Game Two. In Game Three it was time for a local to grab some of the glory and Kou Yongkang duly delivered for the Orcas in the sixth. With his team down 0-1, Kou launched one over deep right field for a three-run homer that helped the Orcas on their way to a 4-1 victory – and into the weekend’s finals against Beijing.

The games begin on Saturday at 4.30pm Shanghai time and you can follow the action here