Raidel Martínez earned his second save with the Yomiuri his first against his former team, the Chunichi. The flamethrowing right-hander tossed a scoreless ninth inning in which he fanned two to preserve the Giants 2-0 shutout of the Dragons.
This save, the 168th of his career in Japan, surpassed Hisashi Takeda’s record, moving him up to 15th on the all-time list. Over his eight years in the Nippon League the hurler has won 15 games and posted a 1.70 earned run average.
Martínez has become a premier Nippon League reliever in recent years and will be part of team Cuba in the upcoming World Baseball Classic. During the offseason the righty signed a 4-year, 32.5 million dollar contract making him the circuit’s highest paid player.
Cuban action on the day:
NPB:
Raidel Martínez (YOM) 1.0IP,0H,0ER,2K,BB
Carlos Monier (CD) 3-0**
Christian Rodríguez (CD) 1-1**
KBO:
Yasiel Puig (KH) 3-0,R
Ruben Cardenas (KH) 4-1*
CPBL:
No Cuban action on the day