Andrés Machado reached 30 saves for the first time in his career in Japanese Professional Baseball

Published at: 11/09/2026 03:31 PM

Venezuelan pitcher Andrés Machado reached 30 saved games for the first time in his career in Japanese Professional Baseball (NPB).

The Carabobeño right signed the milestone this Friday when they sealed the victory of the Orix Buffaloes by a 5-4 score over the Seibu Lions at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, according to the newspaper Úlmas Noticias.

Machado completed a blank inning where he allowed two hits and prescribed a strikeout — number 44 in the tournament — to secure the result.

With this rescue, he joined Robert Suárez (42; 2021) as the only Venezuelans to achieve at least 30 saves in the same contest in the history of the NPB.

He also ranks as the third active foreign closer with the most lifetime rescues in Japan (81), behind Dominican Rafael Dolis (115) and Cuban Raidel Martínez (250).

Along with his save record, the fire extinguisher reduced his percentage of clean runs to 1.17, the lowest mark in the Pacific League among serpentineers with a minimum of 40 episodes worked (totaling 46.1 entries).

In the circuit's rescue department, he's tied for second place with Kazuki Sugiyama (SoftBank Falcons) with 30 locks, only behind Rikuto Yokoyama (Lotte's Marines), who leads the league with 32.

Machado has the fastest straight on average in the Pacific League (97.5 mph) and the second in the entire NPB, only behind Taisei Ota (98.0 mph); in addition, he is in third place on his circuit in WHIP (0.86) and has the highest rate of swings to throws outside the strike zone also in the Pacific (40.4%), which confirms this as an absolute guarantee in the ninth episode.

Mazo News Team