Cuban Raidel Martinez achieved 18 saves at NPB

 HAVANA, Cuba, Jun 30 (ACN) Cuban Raidel Martinez took over the Central League's single-handed lead in saves Friday, by adding his eighteenth save of the year in the 2-1 victory of the Chunichi Dragons over the DeNA All-Stars, in the Japanese professional baseball league.

At the Yokohama Stadium, Cuban the right-hander struck out the three opponents he faced in a perfect inning of relief, to keep his effectiveness for the season at 0.00 and separate himself from his closest rival, DeNA closer Yasuaki Yamasaki. In addition, he has 38 strikeouts in 24.0 innings of work.

Now the Dragons are in fifth and penultimate place in the Central Zone, with a terrible record of 28 wins, 42 losses and one tie. Raidel has been involved in 19 of those victories, as he has 18 saves and one game won.

Meanwhile, in another game of the day, Cuban Livan Moinelo picked up his fifth point for a save in the current season, after fanning one of the three batters he faced in an inning of relief, in the 3-1 victory of the SoftBank Falcons over the Seibu Lions, in the Pacific League.

At the Belluna Dome in Tokorozawa, Moinelo improved his effectiveness to 1.01 and his strikeout total to 37 in just 26 chapters and two thirds of work.

The Falcons (39-27) are in second place in their league, just half a game behind the leader Orix.