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A strong start before the main stage
Further record: 侍ジャパン — 渡部聖弥と長谷川信哉の本塁打や金丸夢斗の落ち着きある投球などで初の実戦に快勝, Sports Navi — Japan 10–4 Chiba Lotte, exhibition box score
Japan beat Chiba Lotte 10–4 in a pre-APBC exhibition in Miyazaki, beginning at 13:00 local time on November 7. It was the first external game of this autumn camp under Tadahito Iguchi, designed to test readiness and coordination rather than add to NPB regular-season records.
The defining burst arrived immediately. Two home runs produced a five-run first inning, giving the pitching staff room to follow its preparation plan and the lineup a tangible early confidence boost.
Seibu’s pair made the opportunities count
Further record: Sports Navi — Japan 10–4 Chiba Lotte, exhibition box score, BASEBALL KING — 侍ジャパン、ミスにつけ込む隙のない攻撃で大量10得点を奪い快勝！
With runners aboard after a hit and an error, Watabe delivered a three-run homer and Hasegawa followed with a two-run blast. The Seibu pair turned the first inning’s two-out chances into a decisive surge.
Three more runs in the second made it 8–0. BASEBALL KING emphasized how Lotte’s defensive mistakes extended opportunities and Japan followed with timely hits. The attack was not solely dependent on clearing the fence; connecting the next at-bat mattered too.
Kanemaru supplied the pitching foundation
Further record: Sports Navi — Japan 10–4 Chiba Lotte, exhibition box score, NPB — Yumeto Kanemaru annual statistics and profile
Kanemaru struck out four across two scoreless innings. After allowing a leadoff hit in the first, he retired the next three hitters; an extra-base hit in the second also failed to produce a run. For a starter preparing for competition, handling runners can test more than a clean three-up, three-down inning.
His broader 2026 foundation was 160⅔ innings for Chunichi with a 2.91 ERA, 146 strikeouts and 34 walks. This brief exhibition outing was one preparation step on top of that workload, with the hope that the same command and ability to miss bats will travel to international play.
A comfortable lead still left details to improve
Further record: 侍ジャパン — 渡部聖弥と長谷川信哉の本塁打や金丸夢斗の落ち着きある投球などで初の実戦に快勝, NPB — Seiya Watabe annual statistics and profile, NPB — Shinya Hasegawa annual statistics and profile
Lotte scored on a solo homer in the third and added three runs in the seventh. Japan’s two sixth-inning runs helped preserve a six-run final margin. The official recap linked the seventh-inning damage to a walk and two errors: a big lead did not remove the need to protect extra possessions.
Watabe hit 12 homers in 129 club games this year; Hasegawa produced 13 in 86. Both already have a seasonal base of first-team power. Their next task is to bring it into a shorter international schedule, turning limited chances into sustained threats rather than expecting another five-run opening inning.
