Despaigne's home run was the only hit by Cubans in Japanese baseball today

Havana, September 8 (RHC)-- Cuban Alfredo Despaigne on Wednesday hit his ninth home run of the season in four visits to the plate and towed in a run in the SoftBank Falcons' 3-4 loss to the Rakuten Eagles in Japanese professional baseball.

At the Pay Pay Dome in Fukuoka, and for the Pacific zone, the slugger from Granma, who now has five consecutive games with at least one hit, lowered his average to 276, but increased to 29 his total of runs batted in at the plate.

Despaigne's jit was the only one hit by the Cubans playing in the Japanese league, as they all went 15-1 in a Wednesday to forget.

Coincidentally, in that same duel between the Falcons and the Eagles, outfielder Yurisbel Gracial, a member of the Falcons' staff, went 3-0, with a strikeout and a walk, to reduce his average to 278.

Meanwhile, at Nagoya's Vantelin Dome in the Central League, Cubans Dayan Viciedo and Ariel Martinez both went 4-0, with one hit in the Chunichi Dragons' 3-1 loss to the Hiroshima Carp.

Thus, the average of Villaclareño starter Viciedo fell to 279, while the average of Yumurino outfielder Martinez dropped to 285.

On Wednesday, no Cuban pitcher of those who are enrolled in this Japanese professional baseball team saw action, in which Pinar del Río relievers Raidel Martínez and left-hander Liván Moinelo, as well as Yariel Rodríguez from Camagüey, stand out.