Raidel Martínez earned his 18th save of the season in 18 chances after pitching a scoreless inning of relief in which he fanned a batter during the Yomiuri Giants’ 5-2 win over the Yakult Swallows at the Tokyo Dome. The right-hander from Pinar del Río, Cuba, also earned his sixth save in six outings.
Martínez has yet to allow a run this year in 21⅔ innings pitched and maintains his ERA at 0.00 for the season. The Cuban hurler now takes sole possession of the Central League’s saves lead and has 184 saves for his career in the Nippon Professional Baseball League.
Over his career Martínez sports a miniscule 1.60 earned run average, a WHIP of 0.89 and has struck out 372 batters in 332⅓ innings pitched making his the most dominant relief pitcher in the NPB over the last five years.
Cuban action on the night:
NPB:
Raidel Martínez (YOM): 1.0IP,H,0ER,K (0.00)
Christian Rodríguez (CD): 3-0 (.250)**
Andy Martín (CL): 2-0 (.217)**
KBO:
No Cuban action on the day.
**Minor Leagues