Cuba’s Liván Moinelo won the Japan Professional Baseball League (JPL) effectiveness title today by finishing the regular season with 1.88 in 163 innings to become the first Latin American to achieve the feat.

Moinelo, a left-handed pitcher for the SoftBank Falcons, won the title after Japan’s Hiroya Miyagi, the Orix Buffaloes’ starter, came within six outs of displacing the West Indian from the Pacific League’s lead in that department.

The Asian was unable to finish the job against the Rakuten Eagles due to incessant rain at Rakuten Mobile Park in Sendai.

For the Buffaloes, Venezuela’s Leandro Cedeno hit his 13th home run of the season in three appearances, scored twice and drove in two runs in his team’s 8-1 win in seven games.

The South American infielder, who homered for the second consecutive game, finished the season with a .260 average and 37 runs batted in.

In the other game of the day, the DeNA All-Stars beat the Chunichi Dragons 2-0 at the Vantelin Dome in Nagoya in a game that did not feature players from Latin America.

The challenge officially closed the 2024 Central League campaign, with Cuban Raidel Martinez winning the saves title with 43 and Dominican Domingo Santana second in average with .315.

(Taken from Prensa Latina)