Japanese Professional Playoffs" 254 times in his career, the SV Patron Saint suffered key hits! Giant Cuban Terminator: I am not an iron man...

R. Martinez. (File photo, taken by reporter Wang Yisong)

In the first round of the best-of-three Nippon Professional Playoffs climax series, R. Raidel Martinez, the Yomiuri Giants' patron saint of Cuba, got on the board with a tie in the 9th game today, but was overtaken by Yokohama DeNA star Takaki Tokai. In the end, the Giants lost 1-2 and were on the verge of elimination. R. Martinez said after the game, "I am not an iron man, I am also a human being. This means that my opponent's performance is better than mine."

R. Martinez had 42 successful saves in this year's regular season, winning the Central League's save title. He had 5 wins and 4 losses, and an ERA of only 1.38. He pitched a total of 52.1 innings with 56 strikeouts, a batting average of 0.168, and a WHIP of 0.82. R. Martinez spent 9 seasons in the first team and accumulated 254 successful saves, ranking third in Japanese professional history.

In this game, R. Martinez faced Duhui Longhui with one out in the 9th inning. He threw a high 152-kilometer fast ball, but Duhui Longhui hit it out to the right field to tie Yang Chunpao. R. Martinez pitched 1 inning today and scored 1 hit on 14 pitches. It was a hit and he lost 1 run.

Japanese media "Full-Count" reported that regarding being bombarded in key games, R. Martinez said, "Next, I think there will be many people making negative comments about me, but now is not the time to focus on those negative things." He also said, "Tomorrow is a new day."