{"id":111778,"date":"2026-03-06T18:01:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T22:01:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/sin-categoria\/moncada-shines-home-run-and-key-defense-in-cuba-vs-panama-victory-in-the-classic\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T18:01:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T22:01:17","slug":"moncada-shines-home-run-and-key-defense-in-cuba-vs-panama-victory-in-the-classic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/nationals\/moncada-shines-home-run-and-key-defense-in-cuba-vs-panama-victory-in-the-classic\/","title":{"rendered":"Moncada Shines: Home Run and Key Defense in Cuba vs. Panama Victory in the Classic"},"content":{"rendered":"SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico \u2013 Cuban third baseman Yo\u00e1n Moncada emerged as the central figure in Cuba&#8217;s 3-1 victory over Panama, in the start of Group A of the 2026 World Baseball Classic, held at Hiram Bithorn Stadium.\n\nMoncada, who had already left his mark on the 2023 tournament, proved his worth by hitting a two-run home run and making crucial defensive plays from third base, complementing the solid performance of the Cuban pitching staff.\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>It feels good to start with a home run and put the team ahead. The most important thing is the victory. I am happy to contribute to the team.<\/p><cite>Yo\u00e1n Moncada<\/cite>\n\nThe game opened in the second inning with a solo home run by Yoelkis Guibert against Panamanian starter Logan Allen. In the next inning, Moncada extended the lead with his two-run hit, driving in Yiddi Cappe for a 3-0 score.\n\nIn addition to his offensive contribution, Moncada shone defensively, highlighting a catch on Jonathan Arauz&#8217;s line in the eighth inning, which was key to closing the episode and was highlighted by Cuban manager Germ\u00e1n Mesa.\n\nBeyond the great pitching and several important plays, there was a key action by Moncada catching that line. But the most important thing is the team&#8217;s attitude, how they support and motivate each other.\n\nThe pitching staff also fulfilled its role, led by starter Liv\u00e1n Moinelo, who pitched 3.2 innings, allowing two hits, two walks and striking out four batters. Yariel Rodr\u00edguez relieved, pitching 2.1 innings with three strikeouts.\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>We pitched well and connected with timely hits. We are satisfied with starting the tournament with a victory.<\/p><cite>Germ\u00e1n Mesa<\/cite>\n\nFor Cuba&#8217;s next game against Colombia on Sunday, Mesa indicated that the starting pitcher has not yet been defined, although Denny Larrondo and Julio C\u00e9sar Robaina are the main options.","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico \u2013 Cuban third baseman Yo\u00e1n Moncada emerged as the central figure in Cuba&#8217;s 3-1 victory over Panama, in the start of Group A of the 2026 World Baseball Classic, held at Hiram Bithorn Stadium. Moncada, who had already left his mark on the 2023 tournament, proved his worth by hitting a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":111779,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[997],"tags":[88,2669,3905,5550],"class_list":{"0":"post-111778","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nationals","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-cuba","10":"tag-jonron","11":"tag-yoan-moncada"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111778"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111778\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}