Yurisbel Gracial hits ninth home run in Japanese baseball

October 10, 2020

The Cuban outfielder of the Softbank Hawks, Yurisbel Gracial, hit his ninth home run of the season today in Japan's professional baseball league, to support his team's 5-1 success over the Lotte Marines.

At the Pay Pay Dome stadium in Fukuoka, the player from the Cuban province of Matanzas, connected two hits in four at-bats with one RBI, the number 22 in the league, and left his batting average at 270.

On the opposite side, his compatriot and center fielder of the Marines, Leonys Martín, went 4-1 to preserve his average at 245.

The victory allowed Softbank to stand alone atop the Pacific League with 53 wins, 39 losses and five ties, now one game ahead of the Marines (53-41-2).

Further back are the Rakuten Eagles (46-46-4) and the Seibu Lions (45-46-3).

Meanwhile in the Central League, the Yomiuri Giants consolidated their leadership after defeating the Chunichi Dragons 7-1.

For the winners the Venezuelan Gerardo Parra hit two singles in four plate appearances, scored a run and left his average at 271, while for the losers, the Dominican Zoilo Almonte went 4-2 with one RBI.

Here the Cuban infielder Dayán Viciedo did not connect hits in three at-bats and his countryman Yariel Rodríguez, suffered his fifth loss of the league, allowing nine hits and five earned runs in four and two-thirds innings of play.

In that same section, the Puerto Rican Neftalí Soto hit two home runs to support his team DeNA Stars' 5-3 victory over the Hanshin Tigers.

The former major league Puerto Rican now has 21 home runs with 67 RBIs and an average of 259, while his teammate, the Venezuelan Edwin Escobar pitched a clean inning with two strikeouts to lower his ERA to 2.11.

After these results, the Giants lead the standings with 60 wins, 30 losses and four ties, followed by the Tigers (46-44-5) and the Stars (45-47-5).