6/19 Roundup and News

The Joongang Daily wants to see more Koreans in the MLB. The whole article has a, "I'm not a racist, buuuuuuut..." feel to it. It would have been a better article if he didn't mention Japan and focused on Korea. Maybe let us know specifically which players he'd like to see in the MLB.(My vote is Park Han-yi) Personally, I'd like to see a better development system in the KBO, instead of letting the best players leave in the prime of their careers.

KIA 8, LG 6
W - Yoo Dong-hoon (3-1), L - Lee Jae-yeong (0-3), S - Han Ki-joo (15)

This game sounds closer than it was. After the 7th inning the score was 8-2 LG mounted fake rallies in the 8th and 9th innings to make it look respectable in the morning and allow KIA closer, Han Ki-joo, to pick up his 15th save. LG did actually hold a 2-1 lead, until KIA put up a 5-run 6th inning and a 2-run 7th.

Walks absolutely killed LG. They allowed 11(!) free passes and hit 3 batters in this one. That's 14 baserunners! KIA only had 7 hits and only 1 for extra bases. The LG bullpen was so awful that it took 7 pitchers to finish 3 innings.

Felix Diaz made his first KBO start. He lasted only 3 innings(62 pitches, 38 strikes), but I'm assuming it was because he was on a strict pitch count. He only allowed 1 hit and 1 walk with 1 strikeout.

The game ball goes to KIA shortstop, Kim Seon-bin. He finished the game 2-5 with 2 RBI and 1 run scored.

Hanhwa 9, Lotte 8
W - Ahn Yeong-myeong (5-0), L - Im Kyeong-hwan (1-4), S - Brad Thomas (14)

Lotte took a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the 6th when Son Min-han fell apart and surrendered 5 runs to the Eagles. The Giants offense stormed back in the top of the 7th with a 6-run inning. All 6 runs came from homeruns. Karim Garcia hit a 2-run bomb, Jo Seong-hwan followed with a three-run homer and Lee Dae-ho ended the scoring with a solo shot. Bang! Bang! Bang! 6 runs. In the bottom of the 8th, Hanhwa struck back for three runs and the lead. The key hit in the inning was a 2 RBI triple from Lee Beom-ho to tie the game at 8. Lee would be driven in on an RBI single from 2nd baseman, Han Sang-hoon. Brad Thomas pitched a 1-2-3 9th inning to record his 14th save.

Woori 11, Samsung 10
W - Hwang Doo-seong (4-3), L - Yoon Seong-hwan (4-8)

This was a game that fought for my very soul as a baseball fan. Woori put up a snowman(midwest slang for an 8-run inning) in the 2nd inning. Woori slugger, Cliff Brumbaugh, clobbered two homeruns in the same inning off two different pitchers. Not a good start boys. Samsung starter, Bae Yeong-su, wasn't wild or injured. He just sucked. Badly. Samsung did battle back with 5 runs in the 3rd, thanks to a pair of 2-run doubles from Woo Dong-gyun and Yang Jun-hyeok. Woori tacked on an insurance run in the 6th to make the score 9-5. Then, Samsung struck again. 4 runs. After an 8-0, 2nd inning deficit, the game was tied at 9. What got into these guys? Not so fast. Woori took the lead back in the bottom of the 8th on an RBI single from 2nd baseman, Kwan Do-yeong. Not so fast again! Samsung pulled the score even in the top of the 9th inning. Woori reliever, Hwan Do-seong came down with a case of the yips. He lobbed two pitches about 10 feet wide of the plate to allow runners to advance and score. Samsung pitcher, Yoon Seong hwan, came on to get the Lions into extra innings. He failed. It went something like this, walk, walk, popup(yay!), walk off single to Kim Dong-su. Ballgame.

Doosan 8, SK 0
W - Lee Hae-cheon (3-3), L - Seon Eun-beom (6-3)

Try your finishing move on us will you? Take that!

Doosan slapped around SK starter, Seon Eun-beom, for 6 runs in the first inning. The big hit came in the form of a 3-run bomb by Chae Sang-byeong. On the mound, 3 Doosan pitchers combined for a 3-hitter. Starting pitcher, Lee Hye-cheon worked 6 innings(96 pitches, 57 strikes), allowing only 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 6. SK was uncharacteristically bad at everything last night. They could pitch(8 runs allowed), they couldn't hit(5 baserunners, all night) and they couldn't field(3 errors!). One of the few bad nights for the defending champs.