Raidel Martínez recorded his 13th save of the season this Sunday and tied for the Central League lead in saves in NPB. During the Yomiuri Giants’ 1-0 victory over DeNA in front of 42,209 spectators at the Tokyo Dome, the native of Pinar del Río tossed a scoreless ninth inning. He did not allow a hit, issued one walk and struck out two batters.
This marked the 225th save of the hurler’s career at the top level of Japanese baseball. He now ranks 11th all-time in that category and sits just three saves behind Masahide Kobayashi for 10th place. Martínez is now tied for the Central League lead in saves alongside José Quijada (Yakult). Martínez currently sports a 1.76 ERA (15.1 IP, 3 ER), has recorded 19 strikeouts and is holding opposing hitters to a .135 batting average.
In Korea Guillermo Heredia swatted his sixth homerun of the season this Sunday in the KBO with the SSG Landers. During his club’s 6-4 loss against the LG Twins (25-17), Heredia started as the cleanup hitter and left fielder, going 1-for-4 with a homerun, one run scored and one RBI.
The blast traveled 410 feet in the bottom of the eighth inning. For the season he has appeared in 42 games, owns 15 multi-hit performances and is batting .281 (171 AB, 48 H). He has totaled 12 extra-base hits (6 doubles and 6 homeruns) and ranks second in the entire league with 38 runs batted in.