Tuesday, July 29, 2008

7/25 - 7/27 Weekend Roundup

Yang Joon-hyeok is closing in on the Korean homerun record. He currently sits at 337. He needs 3 more to tie and 4 more to break the record.

This is the silliest rule change I've ever heard. I just hope none of the games go into extras.

The Joongang Daily has an Olympic Preview of sorts. I love the quote from Samsung Lions' manager Sun Dong-yeol. “We might as well decide the outcome with a card game.” Sun is awesome.

Lee Seung-yeop is back in the NPB. Just this weekend he clubbed his first homer of the year.

On to the roundup....

Lotte vs. Hanhwa

7/25 - Lotte 5, Hanhwa 1
7/26 - Hanhwa 5, Lotte 3
7/27 - Lotte 9, Hanhwa 2

This was the only series to get all three games in during the weekend. The weather wasn't nearly as wet in the south as it was around Seoul.

Lotte won Friday's contest in 5 innings. The game was called after five on account of rain. A 4-run rally in the 3rd was the difference in this one. During the rally, Lee Dae-ho clubbed a 2-run double. Jang Won-joon tossed all 5 innings(97 pitches, 58 strikes) for the Giants. He allowed only 1 run on 5 hits and 2 walks with 2 K's.

Losing 3-1 on Saturday night, Hanhwa struck for a 4-run rally in the top of the 9th to steal the lead away from the Giants. Kim Tae-gyun lead off the inning with a basehit to center and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Hanhwa's Lee Beom-ho grounded to second to advance Kim to 3rd with one out. Kim Tae-won clubbed a basehit to center to score Kim Tae-gyun. Lee Yeo-sang came in to pinch-run for Kim. Han Sang-hoon singled to right to put runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out. Shin Kyeong-hyeon singled to center. Lee was able to score on the hit, but the play at the plate was fairly close. In fact, based on the replay, Lee was probably out. Lee's dash tied the game at 3. Runners were at the corners, still with only 1 out. The next batter, Kim Min-jae, dropped a bunt down the first base line. The ball essentially stopped dead just before rolling foul. Lotte catcher, Kang Min-ho, had no play. Kim's "single" loaded the bases with 1 out. Song Kwang-min singled to score the go ahead run. Yeon Kyeong-heum hit a fly ball to center, the fifth run was able to slide under Kang's tag. Hanhwa's Brad Thomas pitched the bottom of the 9th to record the save.

On Sunday, Lee Dae-ho had his first big game in a long time. Lee homered in the 1st(two runs) and 3rd inning(3 runs). He also doubled in the 5th. Lee finished the game 3-3 with a walk, a double, 2 homers, 5 RBI and 3 runs scored. Jo Jeong-hoon worked 8 strong innings(104 pitches, 59 strikes) for the Giants. He allowed 2 runs on 5 hits and 1 walk with 5 K's. Both runs came on solo homeruns from Hanhwa's Kim Tae-won.

Doosan vs. Samsung

7/25 - PPD
7/26 - PPD
7/27 - Samsung 5, Doosan 4 (12)

Sunday's W makes it 3 in a row for the Baby Lions. That's called a winning streak friends. I wish I still cared. The game was tied 4-4 at the end of 9 innings. Doosan came back from a 4-2 deficit to tie the game in the 7th. Woo Jae-won ripped a sing just inside of the 3rd baseline to score the tying run. Doosan would threaten in the 11th, but was unable to plate anyone. The inning ended thanks to a called third strike on Min Byeong-han with the bases loaded to kill the threat. In the top of the 12th, Samsung's Hyeon Jae-yoon started the inning right with a leadoff double off of Doosan pitcher, Kim Sun-woo. Yang Joo-hyeok clobbered a fly ball to deep right/center. Hyeon would score, but Yang was called out trying to stretch it into a triple. Oh Seung-hwan pitched a 1-2-3 12th inning to record the save.

Woori vs. KIA

7/25 - PPD
7/26 - PPD
7/27 - KIA 8, Woori 2

8-2 makes Sunday's game sound closer than it was. If it weren't for a two-run fake rally, Woori would have been shut out. Thanks to the damage inflicted early, KIA's Yoon Seok-min was able to cruise to an easy W on Sunday. Yoon tossed 6 innings(93 pitches, 58 strikes) allowing 2 runs on 6 hits and 1 walk with 3 K's. KIA's Jang Seong-ho had a big day at the plate. Jang went 3-5 with a double, a homer, 3 RBI and 1 run scored. The homer was of the solo variety and came in the first inning.

SK vs LG

7/25 - PPD
7/26 - PPD
7/27 - SK 11, LG 0

LG ace, Bong Jung-geun, looked awful with 2 extra days rest. He only lasted 4 innings and was clobbered when he was on the mound. SK starting pitcher, Song Eun-beom looked much better. Song tossed 7 shutout innings (107 pitches, 70 strikes) allowing only 5 hits and 1 walk while striking out 7. SK leadoff man, Jeong Geun-woo had himself a day on Sunday. Jeong went 3-4 with 2 homers, 4 RBI and 3 runs scored. SK's Park Jae-hong went 2-4 with 2 doubles, 2 RBI and 1 run scored.

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