Kazuhiro Sasaki made his first start at Yokohama Stadium since 1999 and pitched a scoreless inning Wednesday in the Yokohama BayStars' 5-5 tie with the Yomiuri Giants in the preseason game called in the eighth inning due to rain.
The Seattle Mariners career saves leader, who complained of pain in his right hamstring earlier this month, struck out leadoff man Toshihisa Nishi, allowed a single to Takayuki Shimizu and then forced a double-play grounder from Hiroki Kokubo to end the inning.
At Nagoya Dome, Kosuke Fukudome batted cleanup and was issued a walk before he tripled to contribute to Chunichi's 11-hit attack as the Dragons beat the Hiroshima Carp 7-3.