9/19 - 9/21 Weekend Roundup

I guess there was a problem at Sajik Stadium in Busan on Friday. The whole deal sounds pretty silly to me and I'm surprised they tried it in Busan.

The Joongang Daily has another update on Choo Shin-soo. Personally, I'm growing a little weary of reading about Choo's every move. Especially with the KBO heading into the playoffs in a few weeks. Yes, he's had a good season. I get it. Let's move on.

Wait a second. The Donga Ilbo actually did this. They wrote a full article comparing Choo to Ichiro. Choo Shin-soo who has had exactly 1/2 of a good season compared to Ichiro. You know, the guy with 8 consecutive 200 hit seasons and will likely be appearing in the Hall of Fame one day. I quote, "When he made his U.S. debut with the Seattle Mariners in 2001, the team gave him little time due to Japanese hitting wizard Ichiro Suzuki." Let's see who do we go with here? This rookie or the guy that's been to the All Star Game 3 times already. Tough call.

There's more. "Choo’s at-bats numbered less than half of Ichiro’s due to injury and other reasons. Choo is hitting .310, almost the same as Ichiro (.314), but his average hit per at-bat is .31, the same as Ichiro’s. Choo’s RBI average per at-hat is .20, exceeding that of Ichiro (.15)." Hit per at-bat? That's not even a statistic! And you rounded Ichiro down! RBI per at bat? I think you meant AB per RBI.

This has me all worked up and it's only Monday.

On to the round up...

Scores for 9/19

SK 3, The Heroes 2
W - Lee Yeong-wook (2-2), L - Ma Il-yeong (10-10), S - Jeong Woo-ram (5)

All 5 runs in the game came via the homer. In the 3rd and 4th inning Heroes Kang Jeong-ho and Kang Byeong-shik(no relation) both hit solo homers to give The Heroes a 2-0 advantage over the Wyverns. In the bottom of the 4th, SK outfielder, Choi Jeong struck again. He delivered a 3-run bomb that proved to be all the offense SK would need.

Doosan 6, Lotte 5
W - Lee Seung-hak (6-4), L - Choi Hyang-nam (2-4)

Before heading into the recap it needs to be noted that both teams wore their thowback uni's for this one. Lotte was in it's powder blues and Doosan was wearing its converted OB Bears uni's(The hat has the Doosan logo instead of the OB logo). I really wish a beer company or better yet, a soju company, would assume sponsorship of The Heroes.

In the bottom of the 8th, Lotte was trailing 3-1, but struck for a 4-run rally to take a 5-3 advantage. They key hit came with two on and no out. Lotte's Jo Sang-hwan delivered an off the wall double to drive in 2 and give Lotte the lead. In the top of the 9th, the Bears responded with a 2-run bomb off the bat of Yoo Jae-wong to send the game into extra innings. Then, in the top of the 10th, Doosan slugger, Kim Dong-joo clobbered a Choi Hyang-nam offering over the fences to give Doosan a 6-5 advantage and, eventually, our final score.

Score for 9/20

Doosan 8, Lotte 2
W - Kim Sang-hyeon (6-1), L - Son Min-han (11-4)

Lotte ace, Son Min-han, was uncharacteristically hittable and Doosan's Kim Sang-hyeon was very effective. Kim lasted 6 innings(84 pitches, 53 strikes) allowing 1 run on 3 hits and 1 walk with 6 K's. Son was battered for 6 runs during his 5 innings of work. Doosan 1st baseman, Choi Joon-shik, delivered a 3-run homer in the 4th inning to make the score 4-1 and put the Bears on top for good. Doosan's Kim Hyeon-su also had a good day at the plate. Kim finished 3-5 with a double, 2 RBIs and 1 run scored.

Scores for 9/21

Samsung 5, LG 3 (11)
W - Jeon Byeong-ho (6-5), L - Jeong Jae-bok (4-10)

This game, was terribly frustrating to watch as a fan. I had zero faith that Samsung would get the ball to Oh Seung-hwan in the 9th with a lead. I was half right. With Samsung leading 3-1 in the bottom of the 8th, LG put runners on 2nd and 3rd with 0 outs. Uh-oh. The Lions called on Yoon Seung-hwan to pitch out of the jam. LG quickly scored its 2nd run of the game on a slow roller to the Samsung second baseman. Yoon recorded the first out of the inning by striking out Kim Yong-woo with runners on 3rd and 1st. The next batter, Ahn Chi-yeong, drew a walk to load the bases. After all this, it was time for the Samsung closer to stroll in from the bullpen. The next batter, Choi Dong-su, flew out to right, but the flyball was deep enough to score the tying run. LG's Seo Dong-wook struck out with the bases loaded to end the threat. Then in the top of the 11th, Samsung third baseman, Park Seok-min, doubled off the left field wall. With one out, Park Jin-man, laced a line drive over the head of an EXTREMELY drawn in rightfielder to plate Park Seok-min. Park Jin-man slid in safely at third and was driven in on a SAC fly from Samsung's Jo Dong-chan.

SK 2, KIA 1
W - Kim Kwang-hyeon (15-4), L - Im Joon-hyeok (5-4), S - Esteban Yan (5)

Kim Kwang-hyeon was too much for an overmatched Tigers lineup to handle. Kim worked 6 innings(86 pitches, 54 strikes) of 1-hit, 3 walk baseball. Kim also added 3 K's to his total and likely sewed up the KBO's Pitcher of the Year(사이용?") award. SK scraped together just enough runs to win. Choi Jeong clubbed a solo homer in the 4th and Kim Jae-hyeon delivered an RBI double in the 5th.

Doosan 11, Lotte 2
W - Lee Hye-cheon(6-4), L - Lee Yong-hoon (5-7)

Leading 3-2 in the top of the 7th inning, Doosan busted this game open with a 5-run rally off the Lotte bullpen. They rallied for 3 more FU runs in the top of the 8th inning. Doosan slugger, Kim Hyeon-su, delivered another big game for the Bears. This time, he finished 3-5 with a homer, 4 RBI and 2 runs scored.