AREQUIPA, Peru – Cuban pitcher Raidel Martinez reaffirmed his position as the leader in saves in Japan’s Professional Baseball League on Saturday by adding his 40th in the 7-6 victory of his Chunichi Dragons.
A report from the sports environment Hit It indicates that the Pinar del Río player left behind the previous mark (39) achieved in the 2022 season, also with the Dragons.
At Tokyo’s Meiji Jingu Stadium, the lanky Martinez retired all three batters in a row in a solid inning in relief, to collect his eighth save in eight starts, lower his ERA to 1.00 earned run average and increase his lead in the Central League saves lead.
The all-time record for saves in Japanese baseball is a real “outrage.” American Dennis Sarfate set a record of 54 in the 2017 season with the SoftBank Falcons.
So far, Martinez has played in 56 games, pitching 54 innings, striking out 55, walking 10 and allowing just six earned runs. He also has a 0.77 whip.
And in another match with Cuban participationthe Nippon Ham Fighters defeated the Rakuten Eagles 7×4 in the Pacific zone.
At Es Con Field in Hokkaido, and for Nippon Ham, Matanzas first baseman and cleanup hitter Ariel Martinez went 1-for-4, with a single and a run scored, to improve his average to .241.
For his part, Cuban Liván Moinelo also came out on Saturday at the Pay Pay Dome in Fukuoka, where he left without a decision after being scored on a pair of runs in six innings of work.
According to the state agency Latin PressThe left-hander struck out seven opponents and gave up five walks in a game that his Softbank Hawks won 3-2 against the Rakuten Eagles.
After this outing, Moinelo, who has a record of 11-5, has an earned run average of 1.94 and remains the leader in that department in the Pacific League.
In 158 innings of action he has allowed 34 runs with 151 strikeouts (second in his circuit) and has granted 46 bases on balls.
