Raidel Martínez earned his 40th save of the season earlier today after retiring all three batters he faced in a perfect inning of relief in which he fanned a batter during the Yomiuri Giants’ 6-4 win over the Hiroshima Carp at the Tokyo Dome. The lanky right-hander, who earned his 10th save in 10 outings, improved his ERA to 1.28 and reclaimed the Central League’s saves lead.The Cuban closer continues to make his mark in Japanese baseball.
Martínez also became the first pitcher to achieve this feat (40 saves) with two different teams (Chunichi Dragons in 2024 and Yomiuri Giants in 2025). In the history of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), only a select group of pitchers have managed to record 40 or more saves in multiple seasons. They are, Hitoki Iwase (2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010), Dennis Sarfate (2015, 2016, 2017), Raidel Martínez (2024, 2025),Kyuji Fujikawa (2007, 2011).
Also in the NPB Liván Moinelo suffered his third setback of the year after allowing 7 runs and 8 hits in 5 2/3 innings of work during in the SoftBank Hawks’ 7-4 loss to the Nippon Ham Fighters. The left-hander from Pinar del Río, Cuba who had allowed just two runs in his previous six starts, dropped his record to 10-3 and his ERA to 1.45. This by far was the hurler’s worst outing of the campaign.
Cuban action on the night:
NPB:
Raidel Martínez (YOM): 1.0IP,0H,0ER,K (1.28)
Liván Moinelo (SH): 5.2IP,8H,7ER,6K,3BB (1.28)
Dayán Viciedo (DB): 1-0 (.283)
KBO:
No Cuban action on the day.
CPBL:
No Cuban action on the day.