Cuban Alfredo Despaigne blasted his thirtieth homer of the season and drove in two runs and was a key figure in the 3-0 win of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks over the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, in the Pacific League of the Japanese Professional Baseball (NPB).

Despaigne batted 2 for 4 in the game and this was his third homerun in two days.

Thus, he raised his batting average (BA) to .272 and his RBIs to 74, figure that reaffirms him as the fourth best of that important stat in the NPB Pacific League.

After this performance, the outstanding Cuban slugger already exceeded the number of homers he batted last season (29), and matched the number of RBIs (74).

His compatriot and teammate, Yurisbel Gracial, hit 1 for 4 with a single and 3 strikeouts, to reduce his BA to .324, while the also Cuban Livan Moinelo earned the save as he did not allow hits or runs in one inning, thus reducing his ERA to 1.33.

The Hawks increased their advantage at the top of the Pacific League as they now have balance of 60 wins, 45 losses and 4 draws, five games ahead of the Saitama Seibu Lions, their closest pursuer.