Cuban Despaigne goes 5-5, with two homers in Japanese baseball

HAVANA, Cuba , May 22 (acn) Cuban Alfredo Despaigne had an amazing performance in the Japanese Professional Baseball League by hitting two home runs in the 10-6 win of his team the Chiba Lotte Marines over the Saitama Seibu Lions.

Despaigne, as DH, went 5 for 5 to raise his batting average to .263, the result of 25 hits in 95 at-bats, after 27 games in the main Japanese baseball circuit.

Besides the two homers, for a total of six on the season, the Caribbean slugger drove in three runs in the match and has already accumulated 19 RBIs, the second-most in his squad.

The Chiba Lotte Marines appears fourth in the Pacific League with negative record of 19 wins and 22 losses, behind Fukuoka (23-16), Hokkaido (25-18), and Saitama (23-18).

Meanwhile, the also Cuban Frederich Cepeda, in the second division with the Yomiuri Giants, has a batting average of .279 with four homers and 11 RBIs, and his compatriot Hector Mendoza has pitched over five and a third innings with eight strikeouts and only two hits allowed.

Despaigne, Cepeda and Mendoza are part of the Cuban baseball pre-selection and are eligible to join the national team that will participate in the Pan American Games this July in the Canadian city of Toronto.