Elían Leyva made his debut in CPBL with the Rakuten Monkeys in the minor leagues. The Cuban right-hander hurled five innings where he gave up two hits , one run and struck out five in the 1-1 tie between the second teams of Rakuten and Uni-Lions.
Leyva will make a few more starts in the minors with the Monkeys and then incorporate himself with the big ball club in the coming month. The righty from Mayabeque, Cuba pitched with Cuba in the World Baseball Classic and coincidentally pitched against the Taiwanese national team in the last game of the first round of the tournament.
In Korea Guillermo Heredia had two base knocks in four trips to the plate, drove in a run and scored on another occasion in defending KBO champion’s SSG’s victory over Hanwha 3-0. The former big leaguer is now hitting .300 and has driven in three runs in five games with the Landers on the season.
El derecho @ElianLD hoy vio su primera acción de la temporada en las ligas menores de la @CPBL con los @RakutenMonkeys ante los @UniLionsIntl :
— Yusseff305 🇨🇺🇺🇲 (@yusseff305) April 9, 2023
IP: 5
NP: 69
H: 2
ER: 1
SO: 6
El juego quedó empatado 1-1#pelotacubana #CPBL pic.twitter.com/wiTvhhy9DM
In Japan the Nippon Ham Fighters downed the Orix Buffaloes 7-2 and Ariel Martínez did his part to help the squad from the land of the rising sun in their triumph. The 26 year old from Matanzas, Cuba hit seventh and played first base, all while collecting two hits in five at bats and scoring on one occasion. In seven games this season Martínez is hitting .158.
Cuban action on the evening:
NPB:
Ariel Martínez (NH) 5-2,R
Dayan Viciedo (Chu) 3-0
KBO:
Guillermo Heredia (SSG) 4-2,RBI,R
CPBL:
Elian Leyva (Rak) 5.0IP,2H,ER,6K’s