Tigers first practice game of the season was against Nippon Ham on the 13th. This went Nippon Ham's way 11-5 but 7 of their runs came off Kanemura but the main purpose for Tigers was to take a look at Futagami. He justified the look - an impressive two innings saw him give up one hit but otherwise overwhelm the Nippon Ham batters. Mayumi was very happy with his performance and was talking about possible rotation slots. Tigers also took at Lin who impressed driving in three runs and Murton who wasn't so impressive with the bat (but it's early days yet). Sugiyama once again gave up a run and Messenger also pitched and gave up a run.