Friday, September 5, 2008

9/4 Roundup and News

SK Wyverns manager, Kim Sung-keun, recorded his 1,000 victory as a KBO manager. He needs only 476 more W's to become the winningest manager in KBO history.

Doosan 6, Hanhwa 5 (10)
W - Jin Ya-kob (2-0), L - Brad Thomas (3-5)

Well, this one only took 10 innings to finish. Gettin' there boys! Gettin' there! Before I go into the recap of this one. I just want to point out Jin's given name, Ya-kob. It's a western name from the bible that's been Koreanized. I had to consult my girlfriend to get an official Korean ruling on this. I guess this guys family is really into the bible.

With the game tied 5-5 with runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out, Hanhwa called on closer, Brad Thomas, to get them out of a jam. Thomas walked the first batter hed faced, but struck out the next two batters to end the inning. Things got a little heated after a a close 1-2 pitch was called strike 3. Doosan's Hong Seong-heun actually chest bumped the umpire while stomping his feet and crying. In the bottom of the 10th inning, Doosan actually got to Brad Thomas. Lee Song-yeol lead off the inning with a seeing-eye basehit through the left side. Then, Kim Dong-ju struck out looking. With the centerfielder playing in an extreme shift to the right, Lee Dae-su drilled a pitch into the gap in left/center. Lee Song-yeol was able to scamper home to score the winning run.

SK 5, The Heroes 1
W - Kim Won-hyeong (9-4), L - Jeong Won-sam (9-8), S - Jeong Dae-hyeon (20)

Kenny Rayborn was adequate and Jeong Won-sam deserved better. This game was closer than the final indicates. SK only lead 2-1 in the 8th when The Heroes bullpen failed worse than Booster Gold in the JLI days. Yes, I will be using random superhero references for the rest of the year. Rayborn tossed 5 innings(75 pitches, 43 strikes) allowing 1 run on 4 hits and 1 walk with 3 K's. Jeong stuck around for 7 innings(115 pitches, 79 strikes) allowing 2 runs on 8 hits and one walk with 8 K's. One of the hits Jeong gave up didn't stay in the ballpark. SK's Choi Jeong hit a 2-run homer in the 6th inning that would be all the offense the Wyverns would need.

Samsung 6, KIA 5
W - Jeong Hyeon-wook (8-4), L - Lee Beom-seok (7-8), S - Oh Seung-hwan (31)

This was one of those games that Samsung had no business winning, but as a fan, I consider myself lucky to have. Yang Joon-hyeok was the story last night. The aged Samsung slugger hit his 339th KBO homer. Putting him one away from tying the record and 2 away from breaking it. Jang Jong-hoon is the current KBO homerun king. Yang finished the night 3-4 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored. Yang's homer came in the bottom of the 6th and put the Lions on top for good in this one.

Lotte 11, LG 9
W - Kim Sa-yool (1-0), L - Lee Beom-joon (1-1), S - David Cortes (2)

11-9 makes this game sound close. Lotte was up 8-3 in the 4th inning, but some truly awful relief pitching and a couple fake rallies from LG made this one a little closer than it should have been. Lotte catcher, Kang Min-ho, swung a mighty bat for the Giants last night. Kang finished the night 3-4 with a homer, 4 RBI and 1 run scored. The homer was a 2-run blast and it came during a 4-run rally in the 2nd inning. It was an absolute bomb over the left field wall. David Cortes earned his 2nd KBO save. A few more and he gets a nickname. He reminds me a lot of Rich "El Guapo" Garces. I'm going to try out Jalsaenggin(잘생긴) and see if that sticks. I bet it doesn't.

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