Raidel Martinez of the Yomiuri Giants reacts after earning his 200th save in Nippon Professional Baseball in an NPB game against the Hanshin Tigers at Tokyo Dome on Aug. 15, 2025. (Kyodo)
TOKYO (Kyodo) — Raidel Martinez earned his 200th save in Nippon Professional Baseball at a record pace on Friday as the Yomiuri Giants came from behind to beat the Central League-leading Hanshin Tigers 6-5.
The 28-year-old Cuban struck out the side swinging in the ninth inning for his 34th save of the season at Tokyo Dome to reach the milestone in 348 games, eclipsing the previous record of 370 games set by former Yokohama BayStars closer Kazuhiro Sasaki who also played for the Seattle Mariners.
“I’m very happy,” he said. “I’m moved to achieve it in front of my family who only arrived from Cuba yesterday.”
Right-hander Martinez joined the Chunichi Dragons as a development player in 2017 and has had 20-plus saves every year since 2020. He led the CL in saves in 2022 (39) and 2024 (43) before joining the Giants this year.
He becomes the 11th player to secure 200 saves in NPB.
The Giants were down 4-0 but Hayato Sakamoto hit a three-run home run in the sixth and Raito Nakayama’s two-run shot in the seventh tied it at 5-5 before Trey Cabbage plated the go-ahead run in the eighth with a sacrifice fly.