2013 Asia Series

The 2013 Asia Series was be the 7th Asia Series and took place in Taichung, Taiwan, from November 15 to November 20, 2013. Having added the Australian champion in 2011, the Series now became a three-continent event by inviting 2013 European Cup champion Fortitudo Bologna of the Italian Baseball League. It included the champions of the Australian Baseball League, Korea Baseball Organization, Nippon Pro Baseball, Chinese Professional Baseball League and European Cup. Participating teams were the Canberra Cavalry (Australia), Samsung Lions (South Korea), Rakuten Golden Eagles (Japan), Uni-President Lions (Taiwan), EDA Rhinos (a second Taiwanese team due to their hosting) and Fortitudo Bologna (Europe/Italy). Canberra became the first Australian team to win an Asia Series. The MVP was Canberra C Jack Murphy.

November 15[edit]

Samsung Lions 5, Fortitudo Bologna 2. Recent Bologna pickup Bobby Blevins allowed two runs in six and Italy had the game even at two entering the 8th thanks to runs by Alessandro Vaglio and Francesco Fuzzi. In the 8th, though, DH Seung-yeop Lee cracked a 3-run homer off reliever Junior Oberto. Chang-min Shim got the win, Ji-man An the save and Filippo Crepaldi the loss.
Rakuten Golden Eagles 6, EDA Rhinos 1. Wataru Karashima allowed one run in 5 1/3 IP but left with a surprising 1-0 deficit as he was being outdueled by Nick Green blanked the Japanese champs for six. In the 7th, though, Rakuten tied it off Green, then scored five runs in the 8th to win it. Chien-Fu Yang got the loss. SS Tetsuro Nishida and CF Ryo Hijirisawa each drove in two while backup LF Makoto Moriyama scored twice. Norihito Kaneto got the win in relief.

Canberra Cavalry 2, EDA Rhinos 0. In a duel of American hurlers, Mike Ekstrom beats Matt Torra. Ekstrom escapes a bases-loaded, no-out situation in the 4th and relievers Jeff Lyman and Sean Toler finish it off. Veteran DH Michael Wells (2 for 3, 2B, HBP, R) leads Australia's offense.
Uni-President Lions 10, Fortitudo Bologna 0. Giancarlo Alvarado was roughed up for four runs in 1 1/3 IP while Ching-Ming Wang and Wen-Yang Liao hold the Italians to two hits (by 2B Alessandro Vaglio and 1B Daniele Malengo). 2B Chih-Hsiang Lin gets three hits and he, RF Fu-Hao Liu and SS Yung-Chi Chen each drive in two.

Rakuten Golden Eagles 6, Canberra Cavalry 3. C Shota Koseki's 3-run double off Chris Motta is the big blow as Rakuten cruises past Canberra. Satoshi Nagai gets the win, Shinichiro Koyama the save. 3B Jeremy Barnes has 3 hits in a losing cause.
Samsung Lions 5, Uni-President Lions 4. 3B Seok-min Park scores 2, CF Hyung-sik Jung drives in two and PH Dong-kyun Woo singles in the winner in the 10th for South Korea. Ji-man An gets the win, Boof Bonser the loss. SS Yung-Chi Chen goes 3 for 5 while LF Wu-Hsiung Pan drives in two for Taiwan. Ching-Lung Lo struggles as the starter with 4 runs in 5 IP.

Canberra Cavalry 9, Samsung Lions 5. Canberra became the first Australian team to advance to an Asia Series finale, stunning Samsung. Starters Brian Grening (Canberra, 5 R in 4 1/3 IP) and Young-soo Bae (Samsung, 3 R in 3 IP) both fared poorly. The difference was that Australia's bullpen of Brendan Wise, Jeff Lyman (W) and Sean Toler tossed shutout ball while Korea's relievers were not as sharp. Ji-man An wound up with the loss after a save and a win in Samsung's first two games. 3B Jeremy Barnes (4 for 5), 2B Jon Berti (3 for 5), RF Mike Crouse (2 R), 1B Aaron Sloan (2 RBI) and C Jack Murphy (a two-run homer off An in the 10th) all helped the Cavalry's charge. CF Hyung-sik Jung scored 2 for Samsung while both 3B Seok-min Park and RF Han-lee Park drove in two. Korea made four errors, though, with two by Seok-min Park.

Uni-President Lions 4, Rakuten Golden Eagles 1. In another stunner, Rakuten became the first NPB team not to reach an Asia Series finale. Rookie Sho Miyagawa struggled from the get-go. 1B Taishi Nakagawa opened with an error, then RF Fu-Hao Liu doubled and DH Wu-Hsiung Pan tripled. After an out, SS Yung-Chi Chen singled for a 3-0 lead. Veteran Nelson Figueroa made that hold up with a four-hit gem; the only run came in the second when CF Ryo Hijirisawa hit a sacrifice fly to score LF Shintaro Masuda. Hiroshi Katayama tossed scoreless relief for Miyagawa from the 2nd to the 6th before allowing a 7th-inning run on a double by 3B Kuo-Ching Kao and a single from C Chih-Kang Kao for the last run.

Canberra Cavalry 14, Uni-President Lions 4. Canberra went ahead quickly as 2B Jon Berti and CF Mitch Dening reached and were driven in by C Jack Murphy, but the Lions scored four unearned runs off Ethan Cole (5 H in 2 1/3 IP) in the next 3 frames; errors by Berti and SS Shane Opitz played roles. Wei-Lun Pan was doing well for the Lions and left with a 4-3 lead after five. After one shutout inning by a reliever, though, five Lions pitchers were pounded for 11 runs in the final three frames, with Chien-San Kao taking the loss. Meanwhile, Cole's relievers provided relief as Eric Massingham (3 IP), Mike Ekstrom (1 2/3 IP, W), Brendan Wise ( 1 IP) and Sean Toler (1 IP) wrapped it up with scoreless efforts. Dening (5 for 5, 3 R, 2 RBI) and Berti (3 R) were sparkplugs from the top of the lineup while Murphy drove in 7, including a dinger off Ching-Ming Wang.