2012 NPB All-Star Game

The 2012 NPB All-Star Games featured three contests. The Central League won twice while Pacific League won once.

Game 1

Game 1 was held on July 20 at Osaka Dome with an attendance of 33,335. The PL's Dai-Kang Yang blasted a leadoff homer off Toshiya Sugiuchi, but the CL took the lead soon. Koshien star Yuki Saito retired the first four batters until Wladimir Balentien collected a single in the 2nd inning. Norihiro Nakamura then crushed a two-run home run off Saito. Yoshinobu Takahashi added a single, Keiichi Hirano's hit helped Takahashi advance to third but Hisayoshi Chono then grounded into a double play. The PL's Sho Nakata hit a leadoff double in the 3rd inning, then they were unable to reach scoring position until the 9th inning. The CL padded their lead in the meantime. Toritani recorded a leadoff double against Saito in the 3rd, advanced to third with Shinnosuke Abe's grounder and scored with his speed when Balentin hit a infield single. The PL's Naoya Masuda faced another crisis as Hisayoshi Chono and Alex Ramirez both singled in the 5th inning. He walked Abe, and Balentin drove in an insurance run with a sacrifice fly. Both teams' relievers did their job well, the only hit after the 5th inning being Yang's leadoff double in the 9th inning. CL closer Tony Barnette then retired the next three batters to secure the first win.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Central	0	2	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	4	8	0
Pacific	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	6	1

Players used

Central League Starting Lineup

1. Hisayoshi Chono, CF (Yomiuri Giants)
2. Takashi Toritani, SS (Hanshin Tigers)
3. Alex Ramirez, DH (Yokohama BayStars)
4. Shinnosuke Abe, C (Yomiuri)
5. Wladimir Balentien, RF (Yakult Swallows)
6. Norihiro Nakamura, 1B (Yokohama)
7. Yoshinobu Takahashi, LF (Yomiuri)
8. Shinya Miyamoto, 3B (Yakult)
9. Keiichi Hirano, 2B (Hanshin)

• Toshiya Sugiuchi, P (Yomiuri)

Backups Used

• Yohei Oshima, CF (Chunichi Dragons)
• Motonobu Tanishige, C (Chunichi)
• Hayato Sakamoto, 2B (Yomiuri)
• Kazuhiro Wada, LF (Chunichi)
• Shota Dobayashi, 3B (Hiroshima Carp)
• Ryoji Aikawa C (Yakult)
• Kazuhiro Hatakeyama 1B (Yakult)
• Shuichi Murata PH (Yomiuri)
• Shohei Tateyama, P (Yakult)
• Shinji Tajima, P (Chunichi)
• Atsushi Nomi, P (Hanshin)
• Tetsuya Yamaguchi, P (Yomiuri)
• Tony Barnette, P (Yakult)

Manager

• Morimichi Takagi

Coaches

• Tatsunori Hara
• Junji Ogawa

Pacific League Starting Lineup

1. Dai-Kang Yang, CF (Nippon Ham Fighters)
2. Yoshio Itoi, RF (Orix Buffaloes)
3. Nobuhiro Matsuda, 3B (Softbank Hawks)
4. Dae-ho Lee, 1B (Orix)
5. Hiroyuki Nakajima, SS (Seibu Lions)
6. Atsunori Inaba, DH (Nippon Ham)
7. Tadahito Iguchi, 2B (Chiba Lotte Marines)
8. Sho Nakata, LF (Nippon Ham)
9. Shinya Tsuruoka, C (Nippon Ham)

• Yuki Saito, P (Nippon Ham)

Backups Used

• Wily Mo Peña, PH (Softbank)
• Kenji Akashi, SS (Softbank)
• Katsuya Kakunaka, PH (Chiba Lotte)
• Takeya Nakamura, DH (Seibu)
• Motohiro Shima, C (Rakuten Golden Eagles)
• Yuki Nishi, P (Orix)
• Naoya Masuda, P (Chiba Lotte)
• Koji Aoyama, P (Rakuten)
• Masahiko Morifuku, P (Softbank)
• Yoshihisa Hirano, P (Orix)
• Mamoru Kishida, P (Orix)

Manager

• Koji Akiyama

Coaches

• Hisanobu Watanabe
• Hideki Kuriyama

Umpires

• Daisei Sugimoto, Minoru Nakamura, Hideto Fuke, Satoru Kakizono, Kenjiro Mori, Tomoya Ishiyama

Game 2

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Pacific	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	1
Central	1	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	x	4	11	0

Game 2 was held on July 21 at Botchan Stadium with an attendance of 25,612. The PL was silent again, only having four singles in the entire game and the CL shut out them, starting with Kenta Maeda's effort; he was selected as MVP. Their best chance was in the 5th inning when Matsuda and Uchikawa both singled, but Tetsuya Utsumi soon forced Kensuke Tanaka to ground into a double play. The CL scored in the first first when Sakamoto and Wada both had infield singles, and Balentien drove in their first run. Oshima hit another single in the 4th inning, and Sakamoto crushed a solo shot. The CL added an insurance run when Chono and Murata singled in the 7th inning. Miyamoto was struck out by Kenji Otonari, but Otonari soon allowed a RBI single to Nakamura. Wrapping up the game, the CL's Kyuji Fujikawa struck out Itoi and Yang, then retired Kakunaka to give his league the 2nd win of the event. Akashi won the fighting spirit award with his nice play when catching Tanishige's flyball in the 4th inning.

Players used

Pacific League Starting Lineup

1. Ryo Hijirisawa, CF (Rakuten)
2. Kakunaka, RF
3. Nakajima, SS
4. Peña, DH
5. Inaba, 1B
6. Matsuda, 3B
7. Uchikawa, LF
8. Kensuke Tanaka, 2B (Nippon Ham)
9. Tomoya Satozaki, C (Chiba Lotte)

• Yoshihisa Naruse, P (Chiba Lotte)

Backups Used

• Yang, CF
• Akashi, SS
• Nakamura, DH
• Lee, 1B
• Iguchi, 2B
• Nakata, PH
• Tsuruoka, C
• Itoi, PH
• Mitsuo Yoshikawa, P (Nippon Ham)
• Kenji Otonari, P (Softbank)

Central League Starting Lineup

1. Dobayashi, 3B
2. Oshima, CF
3. Sakamoto, SS
4. Wada, LF
5. Balentien, RF
6. Murata, DH
7. Toritani, 2B
8. Hatakeyama, 1B
9. Tanishige, C

• Kenta Maeda, P (Hiroshima)

Backups Used

• Chono, RF
• Ramirez, DH
• Takahashi, LF
• Hirano, 2B
• Miyamoto, 3B
• Nakamura, 1B
• Abe, C
• Aikawa, C
• Tetsuya Utsumi, P (Yomiuri)
• Yusuke Nomura, P (Hiroshima)
• Kyuji Fujikawa, P (Hanshin)

Umpires

• Fuke, Ishiyama, Mori, Nakamura, Sugimoto, Kakizono

Game 3

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Central	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	2	9	2
Pacific	0	0	4	2	0	0	0	0	x	6	11	1

Game 3 was held on July 23 at Iwate Baseball Stadium with an attendance of 14,806. This game was held in Tohoku in order to memorialize victims of the 2011 Tohoku tsunami. 3,000 survivors of the catastrophe were invited to watch this game, which included a young Roki Sasaki, who started in the All-Star Game 10 years later. All five players from the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles appeared in this game, and their ace Masahiro Tanaka was the starter. Tanaka shut out the CL for two innings, and the PL broke through against CL starter Daisuke Miura in the 3rd inning. Nakata hit a leadoff single, Shima added a single and Yang blasted a three-run homer; he won the MVP for this hit. Nakajima then collected a triple, and he scored thanks to Lee's clutch hit.

CL answered back when Hatakeyama blasted a solo shot in the next inning. But the PL then retired 12 straight CL batters while they added two runs in the 4th inning. Matsuda hit a leadoff double, and Nakata sent him home with a single. K. Tanaka and Shima were retired, but Yang then collected his fourth RBI of the night with a single off Kan Otake. Inaba had a leadoff double in the 5th inning, but the CL then retired all PL batters the rest of the game with Katsuki Akagawa's effort. Fighting spirit winner Hatakeyama didn't give up as he had a leadoff single in the 9th inning, then advanced to third with veteran Masahiro Araki's single. However, PL closer Aoyama forced Wada to ground into a double play. He allowed a run on Oshima's single, but he retired Dobayashi to give the PL their first win of the year, avoiding a sweep.

Players used

Central League Starting Lineup

1. Chono, CF
2. Hirano, 2B
3. Sakamoto, SS
4. Hatakeyama, 1B
5. Abe, DH
6. Balentien, RF
7. Takahashi, LF
8. Nakamura, 3B
9. Aikawa, C

• Daisuke Miura, P (Chiba Lotte)

Backups Used

• Miyamoto, 2B
• Ramirez, DH
• Toritani, SS
• Masahiro Araki, PH (Chunichi)
• Wada, LF
• Oshima, CF
• Murata, 3B
• Dobayashi, 3B
• Tanishige, C
• Kan Otake, P (Hiroshima)
• Katsuki Akagawa, P (Yakult)

Pacific League Starting Lineup

1. Yang, CF
2. Hijirisawa RF
3. Nakajima, SS
4. Lee, 1B
5. Nakamura, DH
6. Matsuda, 3B
7. Nakata, LF
8. Iguchi, 2B
9. Shima, C

• Masahiro Tanaka, P (Rakuten)

Backups Used

• Kakunaka, RF
• Akashi, SS
• Inaba, 1B
• Peña, DH
• Itoi, RF
• Tanaka, 2B
• Tsuruoka, C
• Uchikawa, DH
• Takahiro Shiomi, P (Rakuten)
• Takayuki Kishi, P (Seibu)
• Hisashi Takeda, P (Nippon Ham)
• Aoyama, P

Umpires

• Ishiyama, Sugimoto, Kakizono, Fuke, Mori, Nakamura

Primary Source: NPB.com