◆ Pacific League Rakuten Eagles Rakuten vs. Lotte (30th, Rakuten Eagles Mobile Saikyo Park Miyagi)

Lotte's Toshiya Sato catcher (28) started as the cleanup hitter catcher and played at starting line-up. With the score tied at 0-0 in the fourth inning with no outs bases loaded, he hit his ninth home run of the season grand slam to right field off starting right-hander Shoji Rakuten Eagles, giving his team the lead.

In his seventh year as a professional, he hit his first grand slam. "With bases loaded, I was just thinking about hitting only the pitches I needed to hit. I'm glad I was able to react well to the pitch that came up," he said, wiping away the large drops of sweat after fulfilling his role as the cleanup hitter.