Liván Moinelo

Havana, Mar 18 (JIT) - Cubans Liván Moinelo and Ariel Martínez showed outstanding performances today with their teams in the preseason phase of the Japanese Professional Baseball League.

Moinelo was in excellent form from the mound and picked up his first victory after allowing no hits and no runs in six complete innings in the SoftBank Falcons' 5x0 win over the Chunichi Dragons.

At home in the Mizuho Pay Pay Dome in Fukuoka and for the Pacific League, the speedy right-hander from the Pinar del Río municipality of San Juan y Martínez struck out six times.

In the last campaign, he was successfully switched from closing pitcher to starting pitcher, and now he starts with good marks in this stage of practice games for the upcoming season.

Meanwhile, in another game of the day, Martínez hit a solo home run in a relief appearance to contribute to the 5x2 victory of the Nippon Ham Fighters over the Yomiuri Giants.

At the Es Con Field, Hokkaido, and also for the Pacific League, the Matanzas first baseman, who went on the road for the second time in the preseason, raised his average to .200 and his total of runs batted-in to six, as the fourth bat in the lineup.