Gracial and Moinelo: champions with SoftBank in Japanese baseball

October 28, 2020

The Cubans Liván Moinelo and Yurisbel Gracial were crowned champions of the Pacific League with the SoftBank Hawks, after defeating the Lotte Marines 5-1 to mathematically secure first place in the Professional Japanese Baseball League standings.

At the Pay Pay Dome in Fukuoka, the outfielder from Matanzas Gracial, batting cleanup, connected two singles in four at-bats to extend to 13 his streak of consecutive games getting a hit, and raise his average to .298.

Meanwhile, the left-handed pitcher from Pinar del Río Moinelo struck out two of the three batters he faced in a relief role in the eighth inning to lower his ERA to 1.72.

This is Gracial's first Pacific League title, who joined the Hawks in 2018, and the second for Moinelo, who was a member of the team that won the trophy in 2017.

Cuban Alfredo Despaigne also was crowned champion with the team, but did not see action in the game due to injury; it is not yet known when he will return to the field.

In another result of the day, the Chunichi Dragons fell 1-4 to the Hanshin Tigers.

For Chunichi, Cuban Dayán Viciedo connected a double in four opportunities and struck out on one occasion, to maintain his average at .266.