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2nd All-Star game ends in tie

The Seibu Lions’ Yasuyuki Kataoka had four hits to grab his first All-Star MVP award, and that was the highlight of a 5-5 tie at Niigata on Saturday.
The Central League came back from four runs down to even the score, but the Pacific League’s Brian Sikorski shut them down with a 1-2-3 ninth to close out the first tie since Game 1 of the 2003 series.
“I never imagined I’d be able to win this, so I’m very happy,” said Kataoka, who became the first PL player since Ichiro Suzuki in 1999 to have four hits in an All-Star game. “I’m just very happy to be able to do this on a stage like this,” said Kataoka, in his sixth season.
Kataoka doubled twice, scored twice and had a steal, but the PL lost Game 1 on Friday and couldn’t hold the lead in the finale.
Craig Brazell’s solo shot in the eighth inning off Rakuten’s Tsuyoshi Kawagishi got the CL even. Yakult’s Norichika Aoki had three hits, including a triple, and two RBIs to lead the CL’s comeback.
The PL pounded on Yomiuri starter Shun Tono to build a 4-0 lead. Nippon Ham’s Astunori Inaba singled in a run in the opening frame before Rakuten’s Takeshi Yamasaki hit a solo blast -- his second of the series -- and Lotte’s Tomoya Satozaki cracked a two-run shot in the second.
The PL leads the all-time series 75-70-9.