2024 NPB All-Star Game

The 2024 NPB All-Star Games were held July 23 and July 24, 2024; it was a split between the Pacific League and the Central League, and both winning teams scored more than 10 runs.

Game 1

Seven Nippon Ham players were voted as PL starters in the first All-Star Game to take place in brand-new Es Con Field Hokkaido, and they wore Fighters jerseys from different eras. However, in front of 33,079 fans, the CL destroyed the PL's starting pitcher Sachiya Yamasaki in the 2nd inning. After two consecutive hits, Tyler Austin's RBI single drove in the CL's first run, then Seiya Hosokawa added another RBI double. Yamasaki retired Kaito Kozono, but he still gave up a RBI double to catcher Yudai Yamamoto. Yoshihiro Maru and Shugo Maki then hit back-to-back homers, and Okamoto collected his second hit of the inning. Regular season home run king Munetaka Murakami then crushed a 2-run shot, and the CL got 9 runs in a single inning. They set the All-Star record for most runs, RBI, extra-base hits and doubles in an inning. Yamasaki also set the All-Star record for most hits allowed in a game and most runs allowed in an inning. Hiromi Oka answered back with a homer in the bottom of the 2nd inning, but the CL's Maki hit his second homer in the 4th inning and extended their lead to double digits. Hotaka Yamakawa blasted a 3-run homer in the 8th inning, but he couldn't change the result and the CL easily took the win. Maki was named the MVP.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Central	0	9	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	11	17	1
Pacific	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	4	0	6	16	0

Players used

Central League Starting Lineup

1. Koji Chikamoto, CF (Hanshin Tigers)
2. Yoshihiro Maru, RF (Yomiuri Giants)
3. Shugo Maki, 2B (Yokohama BayStars)
4. Kazuma Okamoto, 1B (Yomiuri)
5. Munetaka Murakami, 3B (Yakult Swallows)
6. Tyler Austin, DH (Yokohama)
7. Seiya Hosokawa, LF (Chunichi Dragons)
8. Kaito Kozono, SS (Hiroshima Carp)
9. Yudai Yamamoto, C (Yokohama)

• Hiroto Saiki, P (Hanshin)

Backups used

• Shogo Akiyama, CF (Hiroshima)
• Ryuki Watarai, RF (Yokohama)
• Toshiro Miyazaki, 3B (Yokohama)
• Takumu Nakano, 2B (Hanshin)
• Hiroki Tokoda, DH (Hiroshima)
• Hideki Nagaoka, SS (Yakult)
• Shogo Sakakura, C (Hiroshima)
• Iori Yamasaki, P (Yomiuri)
• Katsuki Azuma, P (Yokohama)
• Shinya Matsuyama, P (Chunichi)
• Kohei Morihara, P (Yokohama)
• Ryoji Kuribayashi, P (Hiroshima)
• Suguru Iwazaki, P (Hanshin)

Manager

• Akinobu Okada

Coaches

• Daisuke Miura
• Takahiro Arai

Pacific League starting lineup

1. Shun Mizutani, RF (Nippon Ham Fighters)
2. Sachiya Yamasaki, P (Nippon Ham)
3. Kensuke Kondoh, LF (Softbank Hawks)
4. Chusei Mannami, CF (Nippon Ham)
5. Yua Tamiya, 2B (Nippon Ham)
6. Yuya Gunji, 3B (Nippon Ham)
7. Ariel Martinez, C (Nippon Ham)
8. Daigo Kamikawabata, SS (Nippon Ham)
9. Hiromi Oka, 1B (Chiba Lotte Marines)

Backups used

• Ukyo Shuto, LF (Softbank)
• Gregory Polanco, DH (Chiba Lotte)
• Hotaka Yamakawa, DH (Softbank)
• Kotaro Kurebayashi, SS (Orix Buffaloes)
• Sosuke Genda, SS (Seibu Lions)
• Toshiya Satoh, C (Chiba Lotte)
• Ryoya Kurihara, 3B (Softbank)
• Daichi Suzuki, 1B (Rakuten Golden Eagles)
• Shuta Tonosaki, 2B (Seibu)
• Ryosuke Tatsumi, CF (Rakuten)
• Anderson Espinoza, P (Orix)
• Cristopher Crisostomo, P (Chiba Lotte)
• Ryusei Kawano, P (Nippon Ham)
• Takahiro Norimoto, P (Rakuten)
• Seigi Tanaka, P (Nippon Ham)

Manager

• Satoshi Nakajima

Coaches

• Masato Yoshii
• Hiroki Kokubo

Umpires

• Hiroya Yamamura (Home), Kazuaki Nako (1B), Tetsuo Yamaji (2B), Atsushi Fukaya (3B), Shinichiro Hara (LF), Shinya Nagakawa (RF)

Game 2

The second game took place July 24 at Meiji-Jingu Stadium with an attendance of 29,382 and was a historic batter's contest just like Game 1. Kojiro Yoshimura gave up a leadoff single to Ukyo Shuto, who soon stole second. Kensuke Kondoh then added a double, but Yoshimura retired Ryoya Kurihara to escape the jam. The PL still scored first as Ryosuke Tatsumi crushed a leadoff homer in the 2nd inning, and Shuto added a RBI double after catcher Toshiya Satoh's single. The CL roared back quickly when Domingo Santana, Yoshihiro Maru and Hideki Nagaoka hit three consecutive hits. Masaru Fujii forced rookie Ryuki Watarai fly out. However, Shogo Sakakura then crushed a grand slam, and the CL took back the lead.

Kondoh hit his second double in the 3rd inning, then he scored thanks to Satoh's timely single. The PL then took back the lead in the 4th inning. Sosuke Genda, Shuto, Mannami and Kondoh hit four consecutive singles against Hiroki Tokoda, then they scored two, thanks to Yamakawa's grounder and Kurihara's sacrifice fly. Tatsumi then drove a walk, and Satoh collected another RBI with a double. However, they only retained their lead for an inning, and the CL tied it up with Tyler Austin's 2-run shot and Murakami's solo home run in the 5th inning. Chunichi's ace Hiroto Takahashi, whose ERA was lower than 0.7, took to the mound in the 6th inning. Nevertheless, the best pitcher of the league still couldn't stop the PL's lineup. Kondoh, Daichi Suzuki and Gregory Polanco loaded the bases with 3 straight hits, then Tatsumi took the lead with a timely single. Takahashi finally fanned the red-hot Satoh, but Tonosaki then added an insurance run. Oka homered again in the 7th inning, then the PL added a bunch of runs in the 8th inning. Satoh doubled again, and Kotaro Kurebayashi crushed a dinger against Hiroki Ohnishi. Oka then hit a double, then Mizutani, Kondoh and Yuya Gunji's three straight singles drove in another three runs. Tatsuya Imai pitched two innings to save the game, and the PL tied the series.

The PL set the All-Star records for highest batting average (.549), most at-bats (51), most runs (16), most hits (28), most singles (17), most batters who had at least one hit (13), most doubles (7), most RBI (15) and most total bases (74). Satoh tied the All-Star Game record for most doubles in a game, and he was named the MVP. In the whole series, the PL's .473 BA, 22 runs, 44 hits, 30 singles, 69 total bases and 21 RBI all broke the All-Star records, and the CL also set the records for most homers (7) and most extra-base hits (15).

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Pacific	0	2	1	5	0	2	1	4	1	16	28	1
Central	0	4	0	0	3	0	0	1	1	10	16	1

Players used

Pacific League starting lineup

1. Shuto, LF
2. Mannami, RF
3. Kondoh, DH
4. Yamakawa, 1B
5. Kurihara, 3B
6. Tatsumi, CF
7. Satoh, C
8. Tonosaki, 2B
9. Genda, SS

• Kohei Arihara, P (Softbank)

Backups used

• Oka, LF
• Mizutani, RF
• Suzuki, 1B
• Gunji, 3B
• Polanco, PH
• Tamiya, C
• Kamikawabata, 2B
• A. Martínez, PH
• Kurebayashi, SS
• Masaru Fujii, P (Rakuten)
• Ryosuke Ohtsu, P (Softbank)
• Andres Machado, P (Orix)
• Shota Suzuki, P (Chiba Lotte)
• Yuki Matsumoto, P (Softbank)
• Tatsuya Imai, P (Seibu)

Central League Starting Lineup

1. Akiyama, CF
2. Nakano, 2B
3. Okamoto, 1B
4. Murakami, 3B
5. Domingo Santana, DH (Yakult)
6. Maru, LF
7. Nagaoka, SS
8. Watarai, RF
9. Sakakura, C

• Kojiro Yoshimura, P (Yakult)

Backups used

• Chikamoto, CF
• Maki, 2B
• Austin, 1B
• Kozono, 1B
• Kuribayashi, PR
• Miyazaki, PH
• Hosokawa, LF
• Yamamoto, C
• Shosei Togo, P (Yomiuri)
• Tokoda, P
• Daichi Osera, P (Hiroshima)
• Hiroto Takahashi, P (Chunichi)
• Takuma Kirishiki, P (Hanshin)
• Hiroki Ohnishi, P (Yakult)
• Raidel Martinez, P (Chunichi)

Umpires

• Nagakawa (Home), Hara (1B), Fukaya (2B), Yamaji (3B), Yamamura (LF), Nako (RF)

Sources

• NPB site
• Japanese Wikipedia