2014 Nichi-Bei Series

The 2014 Japan All-Star Series was the first Nichi-Bei Series in eight years, being reinstated after a hiatus. Japan won for the second time ever, 3 games to 2.

Games

• November 12: NPB 2, MLB 0. After being swept in the last Series in 2006, Japan starts on a strong note. Kenta Maeda allows only two hits (to 2B Robinson Cano and CF Dexter Fowler) in five shutout innings and he is succeeded by Kazuhisa Makita, Shohei Otani and Yuji Nishino (Sv), with MLB getting only one more hit, a 9th-inning single by 3B Evan Longoria off Nishino. NPB scored in the second on a single by DH Seiichi Uchikawa, double by SS Hayato Sakamoto and sacrifice fly by 2B Nobuhiro Matsuda against Matt Shoemaker. In the 4th, they got the game's other run as Sakamoto singled, was grounded over and scored on a hit by 1B Tetsuto Yamada.
• November 14: NPB 8, MLB 4. In front of 42,277 at the Tokyo Dome, the NPB stars outhit the MLB ones 14-8 in a 8-4 romp. CF/RF Yuki Yanagita falls a homer shy of the cycle, walks and drives in four; 2B Ryosuke Kikuchi goes 3 for 5 with two RBI; 3B Nobuhiro Matsuda goes 3 for 4 with 3 runs and a homer and C Hikaru Ito scores three runs as the top and bottoms of the lineup do the job. Hisashi Iwakuma loses to his countrymates (5 R in 4 IP) while Chihiro Kaneko gets the win (3 R in 5 IP). LF Ben Zobrist scores twice for the MLB stars, while 1B Justin Morneau's two-run homer off Kaneko is their top hit.
• November 15: NPB 4, MLB 0. Takahiro Norimoto (5 IP, 6 K), Yuki Nishi (2 IP, 4 K), Kazuhisa Makita (1 IP) and Yuji Nishino (1 IP, 1 K) combine on a historic no-hitter of a MLB All-Star team. Norimoto throws five perfect innings before Nishi walks 1B Lucas Duda to open the 6th. Meanwhile, Jeremy Guthrie serves up two two-run dingers, to SS Hayato Sakamoto in the 2nd and Sho Nakata in the 3rd. The only prior no-hitter in a MLB-NPB All-Star tourney came in 1990 versus NPB; this win also clinched the Series for NPB, only their second series win ever versus MLB (the other was also in 1990).
• November 16: MLB 6, NPB 1. MLB finally wins a game as 1B Justin Morneau doubles in RF Yasiel Puig in the 1st against Shintaro Fujinami and then adds a three-run dinger in the third, also off Fujinami. 3B Evan Longoria also goes deep, off Minoru Iwata. Chris Capuano and four relievers combine to scatter 9 hits.
• November 18: MLB 3, NPB 1. The series ended with MLB winning a game that tied for the closest. Matt Shoemaker squared off Shohei Otani (who was timed at 99.4 mph). In the top of the third, LF Lucas Duda doubled and SS Alcides Escobar singled. A passed ball by Motohiro Shima scored Duda, then 2B Jose Altuve grounded in Escobar. In the 6th, MLB got insurance against Shoichi Ino. With two outs, Altuve doubled, RF Yasiel Puig singled and 1B Justin Morneau walked. 3B Eduardo Nunez singled to left to score Altuve for a 3-0 lead; Sho Nakata threw out Puig trying to score. In the bottom of the 7th, 2B Ryosuke Kikuchi tripled off Randy Choate and scored on a Nakata grounder.

Rosters

NPB

• Hiroki Kokubo, Manager
• Hiroshi Narahara, Coach
• Atsunori Inaba, Coach
• Yoshitaka Katori, Coach
• Akihiro Yano, Coach
• Toshihisa Nishi, Coach
• Arihito Muramatsu, Coach
• Takahiro Matsuba, P
• Takahiro Norimoto, P
• Shoichi Ino, P
• Shohei Otani, P
• Shintaro Fujinami, P
• Kenta Maeda, P
• Chihiro Kaneko, P
• Yuki Nishi, P
• Yuji Nishino, P
• Shota Takeda, P
• Kazuhisa Makita, P
• Tomomi Takahashi, P
• Minoru Iwata, P
• Seiji Kobayashi, C
• Hikaru Ito, C
• Motohiro Shima, C
• Kenta Imamiya, IF
• Nobuhiro Matsuda, IF
• Ryosuke Kikuchi, IF
• Hayato Sakamoto, IF
• Sho Nakata, IF
• Tetsuto Yamada, IF
• Yoshitomo Tsutsugo, IF
• Ginji Akaminai, IF
• Seiichi Uchikawa, OF
• Yoshio Itoi, OF
• Yoshihiro Maru, OF
• Yuki Yanagita, OF

MLB

• John Farrell, Manager
• Terry Francona, Coach
• Brian Butterfield, Coach
• DeMarlo Hale, Coach
• Mike Maddux, Coach
• Juan Nieves, Coach
• Jeff Beliveau, P
• Jerry Blevins, P
• Chris Capuano, P
• Randy Choate, P
• Jeremy Guthrie, P
• Tommy Hunter, P
• Hisashi Iwakuma, P
• Mark Melancon, P
• Franklin Morales, P
• Hector Santiago, P
• Matt Shoemaker, P
• Jose Veras, P
• Tsuyoshi Wada, P
• Rob Wooten, P
• Drew Butera, C
• Erik Kratz, C
• Salvador Perez, C
• Jose Altuve, IF
• Robinson Cano, IF
• Alcides Escobar, IF
• Evan Longoria, IF
• Justin Morneau, IF
• Carlos Santana, IF
• Dexter Fowler, OF
• Yasiel Puig, OF
• Lucas Duda, UT
• Ben Zobrist, UT
• Chris Carter, UT

Further Reading

• Anthony DiComo: "Sayonara: MLB stars head home after memorable trip: Big leaguers enjoy once-in-a-lifetime cultural experience despite series loss", mlb.com, November 20, 2014. [1]