2013 NPB All-Star Game

The 2013 NPB All-Star Games were split between the Pacific League and Central League, each winning one game with one tie.

Game 1

Game 1 was held on July 19 at Sapporo Dome with an attendance of 18,365. PL took the lead early when Nobuhiro Matsuda hit a triple against Kenta Maeda in the 1st inning and scored with Yoshio Itoi's single. Then it became a pitcher's contest. PL never reached scoring position the rest of the games, and the CL had back-to-back singles by Hisayoshi Chono and Yoshihiro Maru in the 5th inning, but Jun Hirose was retired by Shohei Ohtani. Two-way player Ohtani didn't leave the field when he complete his pitching as he became the left fielder instead. CL finally tied the game when Tony Blanco drew a leadoff walk in the 7th inning against Toshiyuki Yanuki. Pinch-runner Yohei Oshima replaced him and he scored on Norihiro Nakamura's single. CL's Hirokazu Sawamura pitched three shutout innings to win the MVP, and the game was tied.

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

Players used

Central League Starting Lineup

1. Tsuyoshi Nishioka, 2B (Hanshin Tigers)
2. Takashi Toritani, SS (Hanshin)
3. Wladimir Balentien, DH (Yakult Swallows)
4. Shinnosuke Abe, C (Yomiuri Giants)
5. Tony Blanco, 1B (Yokohama BayStars)
6. Norihiro Nakamura, 3B (Yokohama)
7. Hisayoshi Chono, RF (Yomiuri)
8. Yoshihiro Maru, CF (Hiroshima Carp)
9. Jun Hirose, LF (Hiroshima)

• Kenta Maeda, P (Hiroshima)

Backups Used

• Yohei Oshima, CF (Chunichi Dragons)
• Motonobu Tanishige, C (Chunichi)
• Hayato Sakamoto, SS (Yomiuri)
• Matt Murton, DH (Hanshin)
• Shota Dobayashi, 3B (Hiroshima)
• Takahiro Arai 1B (Hiroshima)
• Hirokazu Sawamura, P (Yomiuri)
• Daisuke Miura, P (Yokohama)
• Hitoki Iwase, P (Chunichi)
• Kentaro Nishimura, P (Yomiuri)

Manager

• Tatsunori Hara

Coaches

• Morimichi Takagi
• Junji Ogawa

Pacific League Starting Lineup

1. Dai-Kang Yang, CF (Nippon Ham Fighters)
2. Nobuhiro Matsuda, 3B (Softbank Hawks)
3. Yoshio Itoi, RF (Orix Buffaloes)
4. Sho Nakata, LF (Nippon Ham)
5. Andruw Jones, DH (Rakuten Golden Eagles)
6. Dae-ho Lee, 1B (Orix)
7. Hideto Asamura, 2B (Seibu Lions)
8. Hikaru Ito, C (Orix)
9. Keiji Obiki, SS (Nippon Ham)

• Masahiro Tanaka, P (Rakuten)

Backups Used

• Yuya Hasegawa, CF (Softbank)
• Daichi Suzuki, SS (Chiba Lotte Marines)
• Toshiaki Imae, PH (Chiba Lotte)
• Kazuo Matsui, PH (Rakuten)
• Shohei Ohtani, LF/P (Nippon Ham)
• Shinya Tsuruoka, C (Nippon Ham)
• Seiichi Uchikawa, PH (Softbank)
• Motohiro Shima, C (Rakuten)
• Tadahito Iguchi, PH (Chiba Lotte)
• Mitsuo Yoshikawa, P (Nippon Ham)
• Yusei Kikuchi, P (Seibu)
• Toshiyuki Yanuki, P (Nippon Ham)
• Hirotoshi Masui, P (Nippon Ham)
• Yoshihisa Hirano, P (Orix)

Manager

• Hideki Kuriyama

Coaches

• Hisanobu Watanabe
• Koji Akiyama

Umpires

• Shoji Arisumi, Masato Tomoyose, Tatsuya Yamamura, Koichi Tamba, Masanobu Suginaga, Chikara Tsugawa

Game 2

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

Game 2 was held on July 20 at Meiji-Jingu Stadium with an attendance of 31,816. PL scored first again, when Ohtani hit a leadoff double against Tomoyuki Sugano then Hasegawa sent him home. CL's Sakamoto also collected a leadoff double, but Kazuhisa Makita retired the next three straight batters. They answered back soon; Blanco drew a leadoff walk in the next inning, Arai added a hit and Shinya Miyamoto tied it up. CL took the lead in the next inning when Murton and Blanco both singled then Arai drove in the leading runner with another single. The PL's Imae and Itoh hit back-to-back singles in the 5th inning, but Taichi Ishiyama then retired Matsui, and struck out Suzuki and Ohtani to complete his work. CL added an insurance run when Oshima drew a walk in the 6th inning, then Fighting Spirit award winner Sakamoto hit a RBI single against Koji Aoyama. Both teams were silent the rest of the game except Hasegawa hit a double in the 8th inning. Yamaguchi retired Jones and secured the CL's 3-1 win.

Players used

Pacific League Starting Lineup

1. Ohtani, RF
2. Hasegawa, CF
3. Uchikawa, DH
4. Nakata, LF
5. Lee, 1B
6. Imae, 3B
7. Itoh, C
8. Matsui, SS
9. Suzuki, 2B

• Kazuhisa Makita, P (Seibu)

Backups Used

• Jones, DH
• Matsuda, PH
• Itoi, RF
• Tsuruoka, C
• Iguchi, PH
• Obiki, SS
• Shima, C
• Kodai Senga, P (Softbank)
• Koji Aoyama, P (Rakuten)
• Tatsuya Sato, P (Orix)

Central League Starting Lineup

1. Sakamoto, SS
2. Toritani, 2B
3. Murton, LF
4. Balentien, RF
5. Blanco, DH
6. Arai, 1B
7. Shinya Miyamoto, 3B (Yakult)
8. Oshima, CF
9. Tanishige, C

• Tomoyuki Sugano, P (Yomiuri)

Backups Used

• Chono, CF
• Abe, PH
• Maru, LF
• Nishioka, 2B
• Norihiro Nakamura, PH (Yokohama)
• Hirose, RF
• Dobayashi, 3B
• Takayuki Terauchi, SS (Yomiuri)
• Yasuhiro Ogawa, P (Yakult)
• Taichi Ishiyama, P (Yakult)
• Shintaro Fujinami, P (Hanshin)
• Tetsuya Yamaguchi, P (Yomiuri)
• Tetsuya Yamamoto, P (Yakult)

Umpires

• Tamba, Yamamura, Suginaga, Tsugawa, Arisumi, Tomoyose

Game 3

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

Game 3 was held on July 22 at Iwaki Green Stadium with an attendance of 18,365. CL scored first this time after the PL's Hiroshi Kisanuki and Yuji Nishino pitched four shutout innings combined. Maru hit a leadoff double against Sho Iwasaki in the 5th inning. Iwasaki retired Dobayashi and Akihito Fujii but couldn't stop Sakamoto from giving his team the lead with a single. Kan Otake pitched three shutout innings for the CL, and they shut out their opponent for seven innings. The PL finally broke through with Yamamoto pitching the 8th inning. Yang hit a leadoff double and Imae was retired but Ohtani and Nakata hit back-to-back singles and tied the game. Uchikawa then hit a clutch two-RBI double, and he won the MVP for this hit. Aoyama closed the door for the PL, and they tied the series.

Players used

Central League Starting Lineup

1. Sakamoto, SS
2. Nishioka, 2B
3. Balentien, RF
4. Blanco, DH
5. Arai, 1B
6. Chono, CF
7. Maru, LF
8. Dobayashi, 3B
9. Akihito Fujii, C (Hanshin)

• Atsushi Nomi, P (Hanshin)

Backups Used

• Toritani, SS
• Hirose, LF
• Terauchi, 2B
• Abe, DH
• Murton, DH
• Miyamoto, 3B
• Nakamura, PH
• Kan Otake, P (Hiroshima)
• Kazuki Mishima, P (Yokohama)
• Nishimura, P
• Yamamoto, P

Pacific League Starting Lineup

1. Yang, CF
2. Hasegawa, LF
3. Itoi, RF
4. Nakata, 1B
5. Jones, DH
6. Matsuda, 3B
7. Asamura, 2B
8. Shima, C
9. Suzuki, 2B

• Hiroshi Kisanuki, P (Nippon Ham)

Backups Used

• Imae, 3B
• Lee, PH
• Ohtani, RF
• Uchikawa, DH
• Iguchi, PH
• Itoh, C
• Matsui, DH
• Obiki, SS
• Yuji Nishino, P (Chiba Lotte)
• Sho Iwasaki, P (Softbank)
• Yanuki, P
• Naoya Masuda, P (Chiba Lotte)
• Aoyama, P

Umpires

• Tsugawa, Suginaga, Arisumi, Tomoyose, Tamba, Yamamura

Primary Source: NPB.com