Korean Series, Game 2 News and Roundup

Park Tae-hwan at the Korean Series is becoming a tradition.

The KT offers their version of last night's events. They must have woken up the editor.

Aaron at the EWC has posted his opinion on last night's game. I thought the game was fairly enjoyable to watch, but it was a sloppy effort for both sides.

Jee ho at the Joongang Daily puts the exclamation point on game one and boldly predicts SK in 7.

On to the roundup...

SK 5, Doosan 2
W - Jeong Woo-ram, L - Kim Sun-woo, S - Jeong Dae-hyeon
The series is tied, 1-1

Kim Sun-woo surveys the damage after another attack from a group of vicious Wyverns.


Doosan and SK could shatter the series record for awkward high fives. They're already on their way to destroy the record for exaggerated fist pumps.

After struggling mightly in game 1, SK got this party started right with a 2-run rally in the 1st inning. SK leadoff man, Jeong Geun-woo started the game with a basehit to right. Park Jae-sang sacrificed Jeong to 2nd. With two outs, Park Jae-hong hit a slow dribbler to third. Park was able to beat Kim Dong-ju's throw and slide(!?!) in safely at 1st. The next batter, Lee Jin-yeong, ripped a single over the head of Doosan center fielder, Lee Jang-wook. Jeong would score easily from third and Park would advance to third. The next pitch was a 57 foot curveball from Kim Sun-woo that skipped past the Doosan catcher. Park would scamper across the plate for SK's 2nd run.

Doosan was unable to counterpunch until the 4th inning. Slugger Kim Dong-ju lead off the inning with a double off the center field wall. Doosan DH, Hong Seong-heun, would hit a line drive that bounced past SK's diving right fielder and roll to the warning track. Kim scored easily and Hong was pumping his fist at 3rd base. The next batter, Ko Yeong-min, would hit a sac fly to right to score Hong and tie the game at 2.

In the bottom of the 5th, SK's Jeong Geun-woo would hit a dribbler to 3rd base that would bounce off of a charging Kim Dong-ju. On the next pitch, Jeong would attempt a steal of 2nd and come in juuuuuust under the tag. The ball appeared to beat Jeong to 2nd, but he appeared to get his hand under the tag. The batter, Park Jae-seong, would sting a double off the left field wall to score Jeong and give SK a 3-2 advantage. Fist pumps all around.

SK would pad its lead in the 7th inning off the Doosan bullpen. Jeong Geun-woo drew a leadoff walk, but was promptly picked off. Park Jae-sang would draw another walk and manage not to get picked off. Reliever Jeong Jae-hoon was pulled for Yim Tae-hoon. Yim would leave his second pitch up and out over the plate. Kim Jae-hyeon would put it over the center field wall for a 2-run homer. Big fist pumps everywhere.

With a 5-2 lead, SK reliever Jeong Dae-hyeon was called on to record the final 3 outs. Kim Dong-ju would strike out swinging. Hong Seong-heun would hit a lazy fly ball to right. Then, Ko Yeong-min hit a fly ball to left for the final out. Game over. Series tied.

The most interesting stat line to be seen here was that of SK releiver, Yoon Gil-hyeon. Yoon tossed 2 innings. He faced 6 batters. He struck out 5 of them. Yoon could be the X Factor in this series. During the season, Yoon was very good. He posted a 2.90 ERA with a 1.21 WHIP. In 49 1/3 innings, he struck out 49 batters and walked 25. Last night was the best I've ever seen him throw. 17 of his 23 pitches were strikes.

There isn't much analysis to be had here really. Doosan can't expect to win when they have as many hits(4) as errors(4). Not against SK. Also, it's obvious these guys don't like playing in the cold at all. Good teams usually find a way to get over the elements. If I were running the Doosan clubhouse, I would put a ban on the parkas and mufflers. Wear an oversize sweatshirt or a cool satin jacket. That's it. These guys look ridiculous. They're two steps away from playing with mittens pinned to their jackets. The baseball gods respect toughness and frown upon comfort. Kim Dong-ju has several layers of fat to keep him warm. Does he really need the scarf? It's no wonder that he couldn't throw to first with a road map and balls were bouncing off his glove. He angered the baseball gods by trying to stay warm. Take off the extra clothes and try to act like a man for a few hours. That's the only way Doosan will be able to stay in this series.

The next game on Wednesday at 6pm in Seoul's Jamsil Stadium. Starting pitchers, TBA.