Yuki Yanagita hit a tiebreaking home run that lifted the Pacific League to a 2-1 win over the Central League in the final game of this year's All-Star series.
Yanagita, of the PL-leading Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, blasted a sixth-inning home run off Hanshin Tigers closer Suguru Iwazaki. Yanagita then thanked Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters first baseman Kotaro Kiyomiya, whose walk-off home run decided Tuesday's Game 1 for the PL 3-2.
"I was the lucky benefactor of the momentum Kiyomiya created because I was borrowing his bat," Yanagita said after the game at Matsuyama Botchan Stadium in Ehime Prefecture.
Kiyomiya, who worked out with Yanagita last offseason, pitched to the Hawks star during Wednesday's home run derby final, which was won by the Chiba Lotte Marines& Brandon Laird.
"He was a great partner," Yanagita said.
Marines star pitcher Roki Sasaki, pitching for the first time since breaking a blister on his pitching hand on July 1, threw one fastball after another in his one-inning stint.
The right-hander, who in April became the youngest-ever pitcher in Japan to throw a perfect game, surrendered a run on three singles and a sacrifice fly but matched Shohei Ohtani's 2014 record for the fastest pitch by a Japanese all-star: 162 kph (100.7 mph).
His teenage rookie catcher with the Marines, Ko Matsukawa, singled in the tying run in the top of the second.
The record for the fastest recorded pitch by an all-star is 163 kph by the Yomiuri Giants' Brazilian reliever Thyago Vieira.