There was in fact a guy on the field last weekend. I can't believe I missed this stuff. The video was pretty funny. First, he removes his shirt. Then dives headfirst into second. Then, he kinds of mills around while waving and waiting for security. Then once security shows up, he does a roundhouse kick of sorts that left him lying on the turf. He was escorted out, shirtless. I don't believe a missing shirt counts as a "streaker," but bonus points for maintaining his nice smile throughout the event.
On to better news, populer Korean TV star, Jeong Shi-ah, was on hand in Jamsil Stadium last night to toss out the first pitch.
I hate this team. They have one great manager, one legit franchise player, a few spare parts and a whole lot of underachievers. The apathy has been maddening this season. This rant was much longer, but since it does not involve Korean baseball, I've chosen to cut it short. Moving on...
SK has officially clinched the best record and top playoff spot in the league. I can't believe it took this long to clinch. I noticed this article was written by an intern. Wow, I guess there are jobs worse than mine.
Baek Cha-seung has a 6-8 record this season with a 4.72 ERA. The Korea Times believes this to be an achievement.
While the Joongang Daily's Yoo Jee-ho posts another of his "Inside the KBO" articles. This one takes a look at the SK Wyverns and features a championship guarantee.
On to the roundup...
Doosan 12, The Heroes 5
W - Im Tae-hoon (6-5), L - Lee Hyeon-seung (5-8)
The Heroes, erm, flopped to a 3-2 lead, but saw that disappear thanks to a 7-run, 3rd inning rally from the Bears. Doosan starter, Matt Randel, didn't make it to the 3rd inning last night, but Doosan reliever, Im Tae-hoon, came to the rescue. Im worked 5 scoreless innings. He allowed only 1 hit and 1 walk while striking out 6 Heroes. Doosan's Lee Dae-su had a big night at the plate last night. Lee finished 2-4 with a key 3rd inning triple, 4 RBI and 1 run scored. The biggest highlight for The Heroes is that the season is one game closer to being finished.
Hanhwa 4, SK 3
W - Song Jin-woo (6-8), L - Kim Won-hyeong (11-6), S - Brad Thomas (30)
It's too bad these teams won't be facing each other in the playoffs. Last night's game was a fairly enjoyable contest. I haven't really commented on this, but it's nice having 5 teams that qualify as "Not Awful" or better and even the bad teams aren't completely terrible. I think KIA and LG have played better than their records at times. Even The Heroes got off to a decent start before falling apart. Last season, we had only 3 teams that could have been considered "Not Awful." This year has been much more entertaining to watch.
Hanhwa ace, Ryu Hyeon-jin took the mound last night for the Eagles and he wasn't that impressive against the, erm, "tired"(hungover), Wyverns team. Ryu tossed 5 innings(97 pitches, 58 strikes) allowing 3 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks with 5 K's. Ho-hum. Most of the damage came in the 5th inning when SK's Jeong Geun-woo drilled a 2-run double to give SK a 3-2 advantage over the Eagles. In the 6th inning with runners on 1st and 3rd with 2 outs, Hanhwa's Lee Yeo-sang hit a seeing-eye single through the right side to tie the game at 3. The game would stay tied at 3 until the 10th inning. In the top of the 10th with runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out, Hanhwa's Kim Tae-wan stepped to the plate. Kim hit a screaming line drive off the left field wall for a double and drove in the go ahead run. Brad Thomas tossed a 1-2-3 10th to record the save.
KIA 9, Lotte 8
W - Seo Jae-weong (5-5), L - Jang Won-joon (12-10), S - Han Ki-joo (26)
This game was sloppy, slow, but not dull. In the 6th inning, things got so strange that Naver Sports needed to provide a map. Basically, when a ball was hit back to the mound, it went through the pitchers' hands and then the shortstop couldn't find the handle and the ball rolled under his glove. At the plate, both teams received most of their offense from their catcher. KIA catcher, Lee Jae-joo had a huge night for the Kitties. Lee went 3-4 with a walk, a double, a homer, 5 RBI and 3 runs scored. While Lotte's Kang Min-ho finished the night 3-5 with a double, a homer, 4 RBI and 1 run scored. Heading into the top 7th inning, Lotte was down 8-3, but with fake rallies in the 7th, 8th and 9th innings, Lotte was able to make this one look good on paper and give the away fans something to cheer about.
1 comment:
Lotte on a six-game losing streak. That hasn't come at a very auspicious time. Can they be caught by Samsung before the playoffs?
Not that it will make much difference.
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