The Cuban outfielder Yurisbel Gracial connected his 2nd Home Run in two games to help the SoftBank Hawks defeat the Seibu Lions 8-6 in the Pacific League of the Japanese baseball.

33-year old Gracial, went 1-4 in the game with a Solo Homer, and now his keeps a Batting Average of .250, with 2 Home Runs and 2 RBIs in the series. His teammate and also Cuban Alfredo Despaigne went 1-3 with a double, one RBI and one run and kept his BA at .333.

Another Cuban player, pitcher Livan Moinelo allowed 1 run and 2 hits in 2/3 of an inning as a reliever and saw his ERA rise to 5.40.

This latest result gives SoftBank the lead 2-1 in the 7-game series that will continue this Friday.

The Dominican pitcher Christopher Mercedes threw 7 innings without allowing any runs and placed the Yomiuri Giants one step closer to the Japan Series, after defeating the Hanshin Tigers at Tokyo Dome.