◇ Chiba Lotte Marines vs. Saitama Seibu Lions exhibition game (13th, Zozo Marine Stadium)

Saitama Seibu Lions Seiya Watanabe The player hit his first home run of the preseason.

Watanabe started the game as the cleanup hitter and third baseman. In the top of the 4th inning, with a one-run lead, he connected with a fastball from opposing pitcher Kaito Mori on count 1-strike. line drive drive landed in home run lagoon in left-center field.

Prior to the game, Watanabe had a batting average of .261 in the preseason games. He has also been steadily performing well defensively at third base, defense he switched to this season, and with expectations high for him to perform even better than last season, he finally delivered that long-awaited hit.

◇Comment from player Sei Watanabe
"I hit a fastball. In my previous at-bat, I was closer by the same type of pitch, so I was able to connect with it well this time."

Written by Aoi Nishijima