Raidel Martinez saves 19th game in Japanese baseball

Havana, September 15 (ACN) - Cubans Raidel Martinez and Alfredo Despaigne were key figures in their respective teams' wins in the Japanese Professional Baseball League on Wednesday.

Despaigne maintained his excellent offensive pace of the last few days and hit a two-run double in four visits to the plate today, in addition to scoring once to lead the SoftBank Falcons to a 6-1 victory over the Seibu Lions.

At the Pay Pay Dome in Fukuoka, and in the Pacific zone, the slugger from Granma, who has already accumulated four runs batted in in his last three games, kept his average at 261 and raised his total to 33 runs batted in.

Meanwhile, right-hander Raidel Martinez earned his 34th save of the year after allowing a runless hit in one inning of relief in the Chunichi Dragons' close 3-2 win over the DeNA All-Stars at the Vantelin Dome in Nagoya.

Martinez, who took sole possession of second place in the Central League in saves, reduced his effectiveness to 1.09.

In the same game, his compatriot and teammate, also from Camagüey, Yariel Rodríguez, gave up a single and fanned an opponent in an episode of work, to improve his effectiveness to 1.32.

For the Dragons, and in the offensive order, Villaclareño starter Dayán Viciedo went 3-2, with two singles and a ticket, to raise his average to 289, while Matanzas outfielder Ariel Martínez failed in two opportunities to lower his average to 283.

The competitive outlook shows two very different faces for the teams in which these Cuban players are involved, as SoftBank leads the Pacific League standings with a total of 68.5 runs.

SoftBank leads the Pacific League standings with 68 wins, 58 losses and two ties to take a two-game lead over the Orix club.

But the Dragons occupy the sixth and last place in the Central zone, with a pale performance of 58 wins and 71 losses, 16.5 games behind the leader Yakult.