◆Exhibition game: DeNA Rakuten Eagles (22nd, Ginowan)

Rakuten Eagles 's Kenta Maeda pitcher (37), who returned to Japanese baseball for the first time in 11 years, started against DeNA (Ginowan), making his first appearance in a real game since his transfer. He pitched a complete pitch first inning, but gave up 2 runs in the second inning. 3 hit 2 runs in the second inning, with a fastest speed of 148 km/h. It was his first appearance in an NPB game since October 7, 2003 Chunichi at Mazda in Hiroshima, Japan, 3791 days ago.

Maeda Ken, who has been making steady progress, including pitching in batting practice on the 16th, said of his first real game, "It's still an exhibition game, so I'm not that excited," but he also showed some fighting spirit, saying, "Last time (in batting practice), I was facing our own team, so I didn't pitch much inside, but from now on I'll pitch with the intention of closer."

He was scheduled to pitch about two inning that day, and said, "The only one I know (on DeNA) is Tsutsugo. I'm really looking forward to facing him again after so long," expressing his eagerness to play against the slugger who also has experience in MLB.