◆Exhibition game: Nippon-Ham vs. DeNA (17th, ES CON FIELD)

Nippon-Ham 's catcher, Yuya Gunji, hit a ball to show his support for pitcher Hiromi Ito.

In the third inning with two outs and runners on first and second base, he stepped up to the plate and, despite breaking his bat on a 151 km/h pitch from DeNA starter Duplantier, he managed to drop a timely single to left field. Regarding the hit that temporarily put his team ahead, he commented, "It was a tough pitch that I would normally want to let go. But since it was a hit, I thought, 'Oh well.' My bat broke, but (Ito) Hiroshi's spirit is not!"

Ito participated in the WBC as a member of Samurai Japan, but gave up a game-winning home run in the quarterfinal against Venezuela. This hit served as a show of support for the ace pitcher who rejoined the team that day.