Despaigne hit his thirty-fifth home run and tied his record in the Japanese League

September 26, 2019

The Cuban Alfredo Despaigne hit his thirty-fifth home run of the campaign and drove in four runs, to lead the SoftBank Hawks' 8-0 victory over the Orix Buffaloes.

As visitors at the Kyocera Dome stadium in Osaka, the Hawks connected for 13 hits, and the Cuban player went 4-2, ending an adverse streak of 22 at-bats without a hit in the Pacific zone of the Japanese Professional Baseball League.

Thus Despaigne, who raised his average to .258 and his RBI total to 87, tied his record of 35 Mizuno balls hit out of Japanese stadiums in one season, achieved in 2017, in which he drove in 103 runs to lead both categories.

His compatriot and teammate Yurisbel Gracial went 4-2, with a home run, a double, two runs scored and a sacrifice fly, to raise his average to .320 and his totals of home runs and RBIs to 28 and 68, respectively.

The Hawks have only three games remaining to finish their performance in the elimination stage, and are in second place in the Pacific zone with a record of 76 wins, 60 losses and four ties, one game behind first-place Seibu Lions (79-61-19).