2018 Nichi-Bei Series

The 2018 Japan All-Star Series was the 12th Nichi-Bei Series.

Games

• November 9: NPB 7, MLB 6. Yuki Yanagita, coming off a strong 2018 Japan Series, hits a two-out, two-run homer off Kirby Yates in the bottom of the 9th for a sayonara shot in front of 44,934 Tokyo Dome fans. Shogo Akiyama added a 3-run double for Japan, while Yasuaki Yamasaki got the win. Amed Rosario hit a solo shot for the MLB team, Juan Soto a two-run bomb and Carlos Santana a three-run homer. Hideki Matsui threw out the first pitch.
• November 10: NPB 12, MLB 6. Japan banged out 17 hits, 4 by Yanagita (who hit another home run) and 3 apiece by Akiyama (3 RBI) and Sosuke Genda (3 R). Naoyuki Uwasawa allowed one run in five for an easy win over Erasmo Ramirez. J.T. Realmuto hit a late three-run homer and Soto again went deep.
• November 11: MLB 7, NPB 3. The MLB team finally won one, with Realmuto taking Shinsaburo Tawata deep in the 4th then Yadier Molina knocking a three-run homer off him in the 5th following a run-scoring error by Tawata. John Brebbia saved the win for Scott Barlow. Soto almost homered for the third straight game, but the ball hit the roof and was caught by Akiyama.
• November 13: NPB 5, MLB 3. Kenta Maeda makes his return to Japan and allows one hit in two shutout innings for MLB, striking out two. Rhys Hoskins homers in the 2nd but it was one of only two hits off Daichi Osera in five strong innings. The MLB team adds a second run in the 7th. In the top of the 8th, Akiyama hits an inside-the-park homer off Collin McHugh past a diving Soto for a 2-1 game. A sacrifice fly by Santana puts the MLB squad up 3-1 in the 8th. In the top of the 9th, though, the NPB bats came to life. Kazuki Tanaka draws a pinch-hit walk from Yates and steals second. Seiji Uebayashi singled in Tanaka, then advanced on a fly from Tsubasa Aizawa. Kosuke Tanaka singled in Uebayashi to tie it, then stole second and took third on a throwing error by Realmuto on the play. Yates intentionally walked Akiyama then Brebbia relieved. Ryosuke Kikuchi bunted home Kosuke Tanaka to put Samurai Japan ahead. After a passed ball by Realmuto, Yanagita grounded in Akiyama for the last run. Yamasaki closed out the win for Yuki Matsui.
• November 14: NPB 6, MLB 5. Samurai Japan clinches the Series win with another rally. Junior Guerra held them to one hit a homer by Kazuma Okamoto) in five, fanning seven, then Héctor Velázquez tossed a shutout 6th, while MLB built a 4-1 lead, starting with a two-run homer by Hoskins off starter Nao Higashihama. Japan comes back for four off Velázquez in the 7th to tie it. In the 8th, light-hitting defensive specialist Takuya Kai singles off Dan Otero to score Uebayashi with the winner. Yuki Matsui saved it for Yu Sato.
• November 15: NPB 4, MLB 1. Genda hits a 3-run triple off Brian Johnson, while Shotaro Kasahara throws 4 2/3 shutout innings for the win and Yamasaki gets another save. Fresh off winning Rookie of the Year, Ronald Acuña Jr. homers for the lone MLB run in a disappointing Series.

Rosters

NPB

• Atsunori Inaba, Manager
• Masaji Shimizu, Coach
• Yoshinori Murata, Coach
• Hirokazu Ibata, Coach
• Makoto Kaneko, Coach
• Yoshinori Tateyama, Coach
• Takayuki Kishi, P
• Daichi Osera, P
• Naoyuki Uwasawa, P
• Nao Higashihama, P
• Akitake Okada, P
• Shinsaburo Tawata, P
• Yasuaki Yamasaki, P
• Yuta Iwasada, P
• Yuki Matsui, P
• Yu Sato, P
• Haruhiro Hamaguchi, P
• Rei Takahashi, P
• Kakeru Narita, P
• Shotaro Kasahara, P
• Yuhei Takanashi, P
• Tomoya Mori, C
• Tsubasa Aizawa, C
• Takuya Kai, C
• Tetsuto Yamada, IF
• Kosuke Tanaka, IF
• Ryosuke Kikuchi, IF
• Shuta Tonosaki, IF
• Sosuke Genda, IF
• Kazuma Okamoto, IF
• Hotaka Yamakawa, IF
• Kazuki Tanaka, OF
• Yuki Yanagita, OF
• Seiji Uebayashi, OF
• Shogo Akiyama, OF

MLB

• Don Mattingly, Manager
• Edgar Martinez, Coach
• Hideki Matsui, Coach
• Fredi Gonzalez, Coach
• Hensley Meulens, Coach
• Brent Strom, Coach
• Henry Blanco, Coach
• Matt Andriese, P
• Scott Barlow, P
• John Brebbia, P
• Junior Guerra, P
• Brian Johnson, P
• Kenta Maeda, P
• Chris Martin, P
• Collin McHugh, P
• Daniel Norris, P
• Vidal Nuno, P
• Dan Otero, P
• Yusmeiro Petit, P
• Erasmo Ramirez, P
• Héctor Velázquez, P
• Kirby Yates, P
• Robinson Chirinos, C
• Yadier Molina, C
• J.T. Realmuto, C
• Whit Merrifield, IF
• Amed Rosario, IF
• Carlos Santana, IF
• Eugenio Suarez, IF
• Chris Taylor, IF
• Ronald Acuña Jr., OF
• Mitch Haniger, OF
• Kike Hernandez, OF
• Rhys Hoskins, OF
• Kevin Pillar, OF
• Juan Soto, OF

Further Reading

• Alyson Footer: "MLB stars leave Japan with lifetime of memories: Results on field secondary to spirit of goodwill with opponents, fans", mlb.com, November 15, 2018. [1]