Playing in their first Konami Cup Asia Series early game, the Chiba Lotte Marines already had Saturday night off.
Manager Bobby Valentine went ahead and made it a whole day off for most of his starters, but Lotte's reserves were strong enough to beat the China Stars 3-1 at Tokyo Dome.
Benny Agbayani, Hisao Heiuchi and Matt Franco were the only Lotte regulars in the lineup, and Valentine even gave Tomohiro Kuroki the ball against the Chinese.