Korean Series, Game 1

Doosan 2, SK 0
Doosan takes a 1-0 series lead

Danny Rios was the story last night. He kept SK off balance all night. He was an out machine. It felt like he could get a groundball or a lazy pop up whenever he wanted. During his complete game shutout, he surrendered only 4 hits while striking out only 2. I don't recall seeing a hard hit ball all night. Every inning was the same. 3 poor at bats and then Danny would be high fiving his teammates. What really struck me about Rios wasn't his stuff. It was his confidence. He had the look of a pitcher that knew he was going to keep the opposing team off the scoreboard all night.

SK starter, Kenny Rayburn, did his best to keep the game close, but he didn't get much help at the plate or in the field. Rayburn worked 6 strong innings, walking 4, striking out4, giving up 5 hits and allowing 2 runs, both earned.

SK looked like a team that hadn't thought about baseball in a month. Maybe the three week layoff affected them, maybe it didn't. Either way, they couldn't get anything going against Rios.

The hero: Danny Rios. He executed his game plan from the first inning to the ninth. We'll see him again in game 4.

The goat: Kenny Rayburn. Not so much for his performance, but for this. The strikezone on Monday appeared to be called both ways.

The game was over when: Danny Rios came out for the 9th. The only way SK would have had a chance is if Rios was taken out. He wasn't and he continued to get the same easy grounders and lazy popups that he got in the first.

Game two is tonight at 6pm. Matt Lander takes the hill for Doosan while Jae Byong Yong(11-8, 2.84 ERA) rumbles to the bump for SK.