Cuban Alfredo Despaigne closed this Saturday with a home run his participation in the playoff of the Pacific League of the Japanese Professional Baseball League.
The Granma slugger hit a two-run homer in four at-bats during the SoftBank Halcones’ 3×2 loss to the Orix Buffaloes, at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka.
Despaigne added at least one hit in each game of the series and left his final average at .235 with one homer and four RBIs.
His compatriot and teammate Liván Moinelo, who saved Friday’s game, took the loss after allowing one run and two hits in 0.2 innings of relief. His ERA was 5.40.
With this result, Orix wins the series 4-1 and qualifies for the Japan Series for the second consecutive year, in which they will face the Yakult Swallows again and try to get even for the defeat suffered in 2021 in that instance.
SoftBank, for its part, is saying goodbye to a dynasty, as it is likely to lose several of its key players over the winter.
(Taken from JIT)
