In addition, Polanco drove in one run and walked in four visits to the plate, including two strikeouts, to lower his average to .286 and reach three RBIs.
For Hanshin, fellow Dominican Jefry Marte did not connect undisputed in two appearances, with one strikeout, to lower his average to .154, and his compatriot Mel Rojas Jr. received a walk in a pinch-hit appearance and scored a run to leave his in .100.
In another game of the day, Cuban pitcher Raidel Martínez got his second save of the year by accepting a scoreless hit in a relief inning in the 3-2 victory of the Chunichi Dragons over the Hiroshima Carps.
Martinez, who was able to recover from the loss suffered in his previous outing, improved his ERA to 3.00.
His compatriot and teammate Dayán Viciedo did not get a hit in four opportunities with a strikeout to lower his average to .200.
Tayron Guerrero of Colombia earned his first championship win by allowing no hits or runs in a relief inning in the Marinos de Lotte’s 2-1, 10-inning win over the Seibu Lions.
Guerrero, who walked twice and hit a pitch, dropped his season mark to 1-0 and his ERA to 3.00.
For the Lotte, Cuban Leonys Martín went 0-for-3, with a walk and a hit, to reduce his average to .100 and his compatriot Adeiny Hechavarría failed in a pinch-hit appearance to reduce hers to .222.
Cuban Rangel Ravelo had a double and a single in four appearances in the 2-0 victory of the Orix Buffaloes over the Nippon Ham Fighters and his average rose to .238.
Also for Orix, Venezuelan Breyvic Valera went 1-2, with one hit and two walks, to raise his average to .308.
For Nippon Ham, his compatriot Renato Núñez failed in three visits to the plate to reduce his average to .150 and the Dominican Arismendy Alcántara did not hit undisputed in three opportunities with three strikeouts and reduced his to .333.
Cuban Yurisbel Gracial singled in three at-bats and walked in the Softbank Falcons’ 1-0 win over the Rakuten Eagles and his offensive average rose to .231.
For SoftBank, Venezuelan Freddy Galvis was unstoppable four times with two strikeouts to lower his average to .192.
For Rakuten, the Dominican José Marmolejos lowered his average to .133 by not hitting a hit in three opportunities and striking out twice.
José Osuna had one hit in three plate appearances in the Yakult Swallows’ 1-6 loss to the DeNA Stars and his batting average rose to .259.
Per DeNA, Venezuelan Edwin Escobar allowed no hits or runs in a relief chapter to keep his ERA at zero.
mgt/am
