Cuban slugger Despaigne hits 23rd homer in Japan

GRANMA, Cuba, Aug 4 (acn) After more than two weeks without hitting a home run, Cuban Alfredo Despaigne, who plays for the Fukuoka SonftBank Hawks in the Japanese Professional Baseball League (NPB), finally broke the negative spell with a solo shot.

This was his 23rd homer and his 66th RBI, thus appearing third in both statistics.
According to the Japanese Baseball site, Despaigne, who debuted in the NPB in 2014, hit a solo homer to contribute to the 5-3 win over the Orix Buffaloes.
In this match, he batted 1 for 4 and his batting average went down to .255.
His first homer in the current season was on April 15, also against the Buffaloes, when he drove in three runs, but he could not avoid the 6-7 loss of his team.
Despaigne´s amount of homeruns is outstanding as he was in the disabled list for almost 20 days due to an injury, when he was in great offensive form.
Japanese Yuki Yanagita (Hawks) with 25 and American Zelous Wheeler (Rakuten Golden Eagles) with 24 appear as homerun leaders in the NPB Pacific League.
Yanagita also ranks first in RBIs, followed by the also local Hideto Asamura (Saitama Seibu Lions).
OF Roel Santos, another Cuban hired in the NPB, had not at-bat yesterday and only played defensively in the 2-3 loss of his squad, the Chiba Lotte Marines, to the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters.