Cuban ball players shone in Japan today

HAVANA, Cuba, Sep 14 (ACN) With the good figures they notched up today, the Cubans Alfredo Despaigne and Raidel Martinez played a key role in the victories of their teams in the Japanese Professional Baseball League.

Despaigne maintained his excellent offensive pace of recent days with a two-run double in four at-bats to help the SoftBank Falcons glean a 6-1 win against the Seibu Lions. The slugger boasts four RBIs in the last three games, good enough to keep his batting average at .261.

Meanwhile, the Chunichi Dragons’ right-hander Raidel Martinez earned his 34th save of the year off the DeNA All-Stars after pitching one inning in which he allowed one single and no runs. Martínez’s 1.09 ERA is the Japanese Central League’s second best, whereas his fellow countryman and teammate Yariel Rodríguez reduced his to 1.32 after taking the mound for one scoreless inning.

For the Dragons, offense-wise, first baseman Dayán Viciedo went 2-for-3 with two singles and a walk to raise his average to .289, and outfielder Ariel Martínez went 0-for-2 and saw his batting average drop to .283.