◆Exhibition game: The Giants 8-1 Nippon-Ham (March 15, Tokyo Dome)

The Japanese WBC team, Nippon-Ham 's Hiromi Ito pitcher (28) and Koki Kitayama pitcher (26), are expected to join the first team on the 18th. Samurai Japan lost their quarterfinal match against Venezuela in Miami, U.S., on that day, and a team official said, "We are making adjustments. Not on Tuesday, but about the day after that," he explained.

Manager Shinjo had said after the game on the 14th, "There will be no interviews tomorrow (the 15th)," and as promised, there were no interviews on this day. When he did speak to the press on the 14th, he said about Ito, who is tentatively scheduled to be the opening day pitcher on the 27th, and Kitayama on the 28th, "We don't know what will happen with Ito-kun and Kitayama-kun. We'll see what happens from there. It's fine to let them pitch whenever they want, and whoever pitches. We have replacements too. I think I'll decide after I get back, after watching the game tomorrow (the 15th) and until the WBC is over."