The All-Star Series of the Japan Professional Baseball League continued this Thursday, July 20, in Hiroshima Prefecture with the presence of two players born in the Greater Antilles. One of them, a Cuban, had action and came out as one of the most outstanding in the second day where the best players of both leagues (Central and Pacific) meet.
Ariel Martínez had a perfect day by hitting two hits in two visits to the batting box with a triple, a single, two runs batted in and one run scored in the Pacific League’s six-run victory over the Central League at the Mazda, Hiroshima. This is Ariel’s first All-Star Series appearance since his arrival in the land of the rising sun.
2023 Season
Ariel is averaging .250 on offense this season, with 11 homers, 27 runs batted in, and at the rate he is going, he will set a personal record in several of these categories. The General Management of the Nippom-Ham Fighters did not make a mistake in bringing the Yumurino utility player from Nagoya, who has already fulfilled the first part of his contract by integrating the team to the All-Star Series of Japanese baseball.
The cuban catcher, who entered the game in the sixth episode, raised his average for the series to .750 and collected his first 2 runs batted in. Not bad for his first foray in the mid-season classic in the second best baseball league in the world. This is his fourth contest in Japan and so far he has lifetime numbers of .267 AVE, 23 HR, 31 IQ with a .349 slugging percentage.
Foreigners Luis Perdomo (Dominican) and Mexican Roberto Osuna each pitched a zero in relief to contribute to the Pacific League win. It was the first time in the history of the All-Star Series there was a pitcher-catcher duo of non-Japanese-born players.
In an inning in which he did not allow any liberties to his opponents. He could only get one of the four batters he faced. So far, the Pinar del Río native has not allowed any clean runs in his more than 25 outings with the Chunichi Dragons. The best closer of the Japan Professional Baseball League is undoubtedly Raidel Martinez who last season set the personal quota of saves with 39, now has 22 and is close to breaking that record and is one of those called for the All-Star Series.