Thursday, October 18, 2007

Round 2, Game Three




Bears 6, Eagles 0
Doosan wins the series 3-0

This was by far the most watchable game of this series. It wasn't a ridiculous blowout. It wasn't a 4 1/2 hour marathon. It was actually a closely contested ballgame...four about 7 innings.

Doosan was able to take the crowd out of the game early. The Bears put up a three-spot in the first due to ineffective pitching and some miserable fielding. Ryu Hyun Jin got the start and didn't make it out of the 2nd inning. He labored through the first and got a quick hook in the 2nd. Gone was the ace that carved up the Samsung Lions for 6 2/3 innings in game one of round one. Ryu looked fatigued from the first pitch and his pitches didn't have the movement that they had in round one. He looked like he was out of gas, but that doesn't mean he deserved to be pulled in the 2nd inning. He was the victim of the players around him failing to record outs to get him out of the inning. Of the three runs he allowed, only one was earned.

The Hanwha manager called on Cedric Bowers. Bowers was what you might call effectively wild. He lasted 6 innings(throwing 114 pitches, so Korean managers can leave their guys in for more than five batters), but he was clearly out of gas when Doosan started to get to him.

The hero: Doosan leadoff man, Lee Chong Wook. He was the catalyst for an offense that scored 23 runs during the 3 game series. He went 6 for 11 during the series with 7 RBIs and 4 runs scored. Starting pitcher, Kim Myung Choi was suprisingly effective. Few balls were hit hard and everything seemed to find the glove of a Doosan fielder. He held the lead and got ahead on most batters. This was probably his finest start of the year. Final line, 6 2/3 innings, only 3 hits, 1 walk and 3 strikeouts. It was a Paul Byrd performance. He looks like he should be battered around, but before you knew it, it was the 7th inning and your team only had three hits.

The goat: The Hanwha catcher, Shin Kyong Hyun. Passed balls and wild pitches absolutely killed Hanwha in this series. The catcher cost them five runs in 3 games, that's just inexcusable.

Hanwha could book its team golf outing when: Ryu Hyun Jin struggled in the first inning. The crowd was taken out of the game for the first five innings and the advantage swung to Doosan. If not for some excellent relief work from Bowers, this game would have gotten out of hand quickly. Hanwha was able to keep all three games close, but had trouble getting and could never hold a lead.

The next game is on 10/19. For some reason, Hanwha is playing the Kia Tigers at 2pm on the 19th. Starting pitchers haven't been announced yet.

The Championship series starts on 10/22. Starting pitchers haven't been announced, but my guess is its Danny Rios going for Doosan and Kenny Rayburn for SK. Doosan! SK! Rios! Rayburn! The battle for the championship and the right to face Asia's best in November. Live on KBS!

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