Another hat tip to Koreabeat for this article. I'm not going to call it racist, just slightly ignorant. The quote that bugs me the most is, "But it’s a little funny because his style still isn’t 100% Korean." Give the guy a break. He's a foreigner. Of course his style isn't 100% Korean. None of us weirdos from the west are, let alone a guy who's been in country for a few months and has spent most of the time working. I'd love to see the writer come to the US for a few months, then meet the mayor of Chicago. Let's see who screws up then.
Other news, Joongang Daily has a nice article about Sunday's action. They also mention how well Lotte has been drawing.
Doosan vs. LG
4/11 - Doosan 8, LG 3
4/12 - LG 6, Doosan 5
4/13 - LG 5, Doosan 2
On Friday, Doosan was running like a well oiled machine. Starting pitcher, Lee Sung-hak held the Twins to one run during his 7 innings(102 pitches, 64 for strikes) of work. He allowed 4 hits and two walks while striking out 4.
At the plate, Doosan #3 and #4 hitters both homered. Ko Yeong-min was 1-4 with a longball, three RBI and one run scored. Kim Dong-ju was 1-4 with a solo homerun. The big story was Kim Hyeon-su. He went 5-5(!) with 3 RBI and one run scored. 4 of the five hits were singles. The other was a double.
Doosan allowed a fake rally in the 9th. LG scored two runs off of reliever Lee Hye-cheon and that seemed to set the tone for the rest of the weekend.
Poor fielding and poor pitching doomed Doosan on Saturday and Sunday. A total of 4 errors were committed over the weekend by Doosan fielding. On Saturday, all 6 LG runs came in the 7th inning and Doosan couldn't even mount a fake rally to get back into the game. On Sunday, Doosan starting pitcher, Kim Son-woo was chased from the game after only 2 1/3 innings. He allowed four of the five LG runs on 6 hits and two walks.
Lotte vs. KIA
4/11 - Lotte 7, KIA 3
4/12 - Lotte 8, KIA 4
4/13 - Lotte 4, KIA 3
Break out the brooms. KIA held the lead in all three of these games, but always seemed to give it back to Lotte.
On Friday, Lotte Ace, Kim Son-han went 6 strong innings(94 pitches, 60 strikes) while striking out 8. He allowed 2 runs on 8 hits and 2 walks. The 8 K's are important because he had only managed 4 K's in his previous 13 innings of work. Kim now sits at 2-0 with a 2.84 ERA. At the plate it was a team effort. Every Lotte starter except #9 hitter, Park Ki-hyeok had a hit.
Lotte was able to overcome a shaky start from Marty McLeary. McLeary didn't miss many bats during his 5 1/3 innings. He allowed 3 runs on 10(!) hits and two walks. He managed to strike out one guy, somehow. There was more action on the basepaths than at the plate. The two teams combined for 9 stolen bases on Saturday. At the plate it was the same story for Lotte. Every had a hit except for poor Park Gi-hyeok.
Song Sung-jun improved to a league best 3-0 on Sunday. He walked a tightrope for 5 innings. He allowed three first inning runs, but settled down and managed to stay in the game for 4 more innings. He allowed 3 runs on 6 hits and 4 walks while striking out 4.
KIA shortstop, Wilson Valdez, went 4-5 with a run scored and a double.
Hanhwa vs. Samsung
4/11 - Samsung 8, Hanhwa 6
4/12 - Hanhwa 6, Samsung 3
4/13 - Samsung 4, Hanhwa 2
The Friday game was a comedy of errors. At one point, the Hanhwa RF watched a line drive bounce off of his glove. Luckily, CF Doug Clark was there to pick him up. The runner dashed for third and Clark fired an errant throw past the third baseman. It was like a play off of a blooper reel. There were three errors in total on the game. Two occurred on this play alone. The errors helped Samsung during a 4 run 6th inning in which the game was put out of reach.
On Saturday, the errors were committed by Samsung starting pitcher Wes Obermueller. Big Wes lasted only two innings. He allowed all 6 Hanhwa runs on 8 hits and two walks. Two of the hits didn't stay in the park. He allowed one homer in the first inning to Hanhwa slugger Kim Tae-gyun and one in the third to Kim Tae-wan.
Korean sensation, Ryu Hyeon-jin pitched effectively for 6 1/3 innings(104 pitches, 63 strikes). He allowed two runs on two hits(a 3rd inning blast by Park Jin-man accounted for both) and 3 walks. He also recorded 5 punchouts. He wasn't Yu Darvish, but he was effective.
On Sunday, it was Hanhwa's turn to struggle at the plate. Samsung starter, Yoon Sung-hwan went 5 1/3 innings(68 pitches, 46! for strikes) and allowed 2 runs on 3 hits and 1 walk. Yoon is has been used as a reliever, but was stretched out during this game because of Obermueller's early exit the day before. I can only assume that this outing has bought him at least another chance at starting.
Oh Seung-hwan notched his league leading sixth save of the season. He's over the shoulder issues that prevented him from playing on the national team during the winter.
Woori vs. SK
4/11 - SK 6, Woori 4
4/12 - Woori 12, SK 10
4/13 - SK 3, Woori 2
Friday's tilt was watched by 1,629 people and took 13 innings to complete. A credit to the players for staying interested. This Woori team isn't as awful as predicted. I'm willing to say they'll be in the hunt for the playoffs when its all said and done.
This game had one of the strangest statlines I have ever seen for a reliever. Woori's Song Shin-yeong through 5 innings(87 pitches, 55 for strikes) allowed 5 runs on 5 hits with 2 walks and 4 K's. He also allowed the tying and go ahead runs to score...4 innings apart.
SK warm body, Jeong Sang-ho hit a two run blast in the top of the 13th to take the lead. Jeong had exactly 5 homeruns in 218 career at bats. 3 of them have come this year in only 13 at bats. He might need some more PT. This young SK team has shown quite the flair for the dramatic in this young season.
The next game was an ugly 12-10 affair that I believe took 18 hours to complete. The less said the better, but it did feature the ultimate fake rally of all time. Down 12-5, struck back with 5 runs in the bottom of the 8th to make this one sound close and scare the hell out of the 2909 people in attendance.
SK's Jeong Sang-ho struck again with a solo homer in the 7th. He might become my official "Adopt-A-Player" for this year.
On Sunday, Jeong actually earned a start. He went 0-2 with two walks. THEY'RE AFRAID!!!!!
Woori's Ma Il-yeong worked 8 2/3 innings and almost had the complete game shutout, but he ran out of gas in the 9th and allowed the go ahead run to reach base. Reliever Park Jun-su allowed the go ahead run to score and Ma was stuck with his second loss.
The hitter of the day was SK pinch hitter Kim Jae-hyeon. He clubbed the two run double that gave SK the lead in the top of the ninth.
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