Ariel Martínez hits his first home run in Japanese professional baseball

July 16, 2020

The Cuban catcher Ariel Martínez hit his first home run in the Japanese Professional Baseball League, although he could not prevent the Chunichi Dragons from losing 3-5 to the DeNA Stars at the Nagoya Dome.

Martínez, who drove in a pair of runs for the Dragons, produced his sixth run in five games and also got a single in four at-bats, to maintain his average at .500 and raise his total RBIs to six.

Now, the tall catcher from Matanzas displays 11 hits in 22 official plate appearances, which has mentor Tsuyoshi Yoda considering him more in the plans as a starter in the regular lineup.

In that game, the infielder from Villa Clara Dayán Viciedo, one of the Cubans performing in the Japanese league went 0-for-4 as the fourth batter for the Dragons and lowered his average to .299.

And in another game of the day, also from Villa Clara and center fielder Leonys Martín hit his fourth home run of the season and drove in two runs, to contribute to the Lotte Marines' 5-2 victory over the Nippon Ham Fighters.

Leonys, who extended to four his streak of consecutive games with at least one hit, also added a single in four at-bats and stole a base to raise his average to .261 and his total RBIs to 12.

Furthermore, the current champion SoftBank Hawks defeated the Orix Buffaloes 10-3, and eagerly await the departure that the powerful Cuban hitters Alfredo Despaigne and Yurisbel Gracial must make to Japan on the coming 19th.