The Ibaraki Astro Planets defeated the Tochigi Golden Braves 4-1 in the Baseball Challenge League, outfielder Andy Martín led the team’s attack going 2-for-4 with a home run and an RBI. The Cuban is now hitting .333 with 2 home runs and 4 RBIs in four games with the Japanese squad. Martín is in the sites of an unnamed NPB ballclub.
Ariel Martínez swatted a double and a single in five at-bats and scored twice in the Nippon Ham Fighters’ 6-0 victory over the Hanshin Tigers at Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya. His average rose to .256 and the infielder is making a good case for a trip to the All-Star for the second consecutive year in the Nippon League.
In the minors for the Chunichi Dragons Carlos Moiner and Christian Rodríguez combined for two hits and three runs batted in to lead the Chunichi Dragons to a 13-0 thrashing of the Orix Buffaloes. The outfielder and infielder are now hitting .231 and .267 respectively.
In Korea Guillermo Heredia collected three hits in four trips to the plate, knocked in a run and scored twice to do his part in SSG’s 8-2 win over LG. The native of Matanzas, Cuba is second in the KBO with a .386 average.
Cuban action on the day:
NPB:
Dayán Viciedo (CD) 1-0
Ariel Martínez (NH) 5-2,2B,2R
Carlos Moiner (CD) 2-1,RBI**
Christian Rodríguez (CD) 3-1,2RBI**
BCL:
Andy Martín (IB) 4-2,HR,RBI,R
KBO:
Guillermo Heredia (SSG) 4-3,2B,RBI,2R
CPBL:
No Cuban action on the day
*Cuban-American