Wednesday, May 13, 2009

5/12 Roundup and News

SK 16, LG 10 (12)
W - Lim Seong-heon (1-0) , L - Woo Gyu-min (0-1)

Whew. I'm really not sure where to start with this one. The two teams combined to use 17 pitchers and 23 runs of the 26 total runs were scored AFTER the 7th inning. I guess the 9th inning is as good a place as any to start with this recap.

SK held a 4-1 advantage heading into the top of the 9th inning. The Wyverns mounted a 5-run rally to extend their advantage to 9-1. With the bases loaded, SK infielder Ahn Kyeong-hyeon hit a bouncer to short that Park Yong-geun allowed to bounce off of his chest. The 1st run of the inning scored and everyone was safe. SK shortstop Na Joo-hwan tacked on 2 more runs with a 2-RBI single. Center fielder Kim Kang-min scored another with an RBI single. 2nd baseman Jeong Geun-woo added another run with yet ANOTHER RBI single. Losing 9-1 in the bottom of the 9th, things looked bleak, but if any team can mount a ridiculous comeback, it's LG. With the bases loaded and 0 outs, LG outfielder Lee Bong-gyu drove in the 1st run of the inning with an RBI groundout. The next batter, Jeong Seong-hoon doubled to right/center to score 2 more runs and cut the deficit to 9-4. With runners on 1st and 3rd an still only 1 out. LG DH Choi Dong-su singled to left, but the SK left fielder misplayed the ball terribly and allowed it to roll to the wall. When the dust settled, Choi was standing on 2nd and the score was 9-6. Lee Jin-yeong hit a seeing-eye single up the middle to score Choi and make it 9-7. Then, with 2 outs and the bases loaded, Kim Tae-won doubled to left to score 2 more and tie the game at 9. Comeback-completed! In the top of the 10th, SK added a run on a RBI double from catcher Park Kyeong-wan. LG answered right back in the bottom of the 10th with a solo homer from 1st baseman Roberto Petagine. In the top of the 12th, SK mounted a 6-run rally that is tough to describe. LG started the inning with a fielding error and things just snowballed. SK took the lead on a RBI double from pinch hitter Jeong Sang-ho. Between walks, hits, fielding errors and hit batsmen, things got out of hand quickly for LG. Woo Gyu-min was ejected for drilling Mo Chang-min. I thought the LG fans were going to riot. It was pretty obvious that getting tossed was the only way Woo was leaving the game. I was surprised he protested. DH Choi Dong-su was brought in to finish the inning and he retired the only batter he faced on 2 pitches. Ken Kadokura finished the game for SK. He allowed a hit, but recorded 3 outs before LG could mount a 6-run rally.

Doosan 3, Seoul Heroes 1
W - Kim Sun-woo (5-3), L - Lee Hyeon-seung (4-2), S - Lee Yong-chan (7)

Look at Kim Sun-woo bouncing back with the quality start! Kim tossed 5 shutout innings(88 pitches, 52 strikes). He allowed only 4 hits and 2 walks while striking out 3. Doosan broke a scoreless tie in the 3rd inning when catcher Choi Seung-hwan hit a solo homer to center. Doosan tacked on 2 more runs in the 6th inning. Center fielder Min Byeong-hyeon hit a single through the left side with a runner on 2nd to score Doosan's 2nd run. With 2 outs, 3rd baseman Kim Dong-joo lifted a fly ball to center. Heroes center fielder Lee Taek-geun missed the catch on an ill advised dive. Min scored easily from first to give Doosan a 3-0 advantage. Heroes shortstop Kang Jeong-ho hit a solo homer in the 8th inning to give the Heroes their only run. Doosan closer Lee Yong-chan struck out Kang Byeong-sik on 5 pitches to end the game and vulture the save.

Hanwha 10, KIA 1
W - Kim Hyeok-min (4-1), L - Lee Beom-seok (0-1)

This game was actually closer than the 10-1 final would indicate. Hanwha only held a 2-1 lead in the 7th inning, but a 5-run rally in the 7th and a 3-run rally in the 8th lead to the lopsided final. Hanwha 1st baseman Kim Tae-wan is absolutely locked in right now. He finished the game 2-2 with 2 walks, 2 homers, 4 RBI and 3 runs scored. His first homer was a 2-run bomb in the 1st inning that gave the Eagles a 2-0 lead. He added another 2-run blast in the 8th inning to make the score 10-1. Hanwha starting pitcher Kim Hyeok-min was the benificiary of Hanwha's offensive outburst and nice work by the Hanwha bullpen. Kim worked 5+ innings(89 pitches, 58 strikes) of 1-run baseball. He allowed 5 hits and 1 walk while striking out 4. His only mistake came when Choi Hee-seop hit a solo homer in the top of the 6th. Kim was pulled right after surrendering the longball. The KIA bullpen was a complete disaster in the late innings. Relievers Kim Yong-su and Cho Tae-su combined to allow 8 runs and 3 homers. They were throwing batting practice to one of the more dangerous teams in the league. Not a good combination.

Lotte 8, Samsung 5
W - Jon Adkins (2-0), L - Cho Hyeon-geun (0-1)

Lotte had pummeled Samsung starter Yoon Seong-hwan early and often. During his 5 innings(95 pitches, 61 strikes) of work, Yoon allowed 5 runs on 7 hits and 1 walk. Lotte left fielder Lee In-koo hit a solo homer in the 1st and Karim Garcia hit a 2-run bomb in the 2nd off of Yoon. Samsung was losing 5-2 in the 8th inning when they rallied to tie the game at 5. With a runner on 3rd and 2 outs, Samsung 3rd baseman Son Joo-in singled to make the score 5-3. Lotte closer Jon Adkins was called in to get Lotte out of the inning. The first batter he faced, Samsung 2nd baseman Shin Myeong-cheol, singled up the middle. With runners on 1st and 2nd with 2 outs, Chae Tae-in drew a walk to load the bases. Adkins thought it was strike 3, but replays showed the umpire got the call right. The next batter, Samsung right fielder Kang Bong-gyu, doubled down the line to score 2 runs and tie the game at 5. Yang Joon-hyeok drew a walk to load the bases again, but the next batter, Choi Hyeong-woo, struck out swinging to end the threat. Lotte would match Samsung's 3-run rally in the bottom of the 8th. Karim Garcia started the inning with a leadoff double. He was lifted for a pinch hitter and Samsung brought in Jeong Hyeon-wook to relieve Cho Hyeon-geun. Jeong promptly threw a pickoff throw into center field and the go-ahead run advanced to 3rd. Lotte DH Hong Seung-hoon bounced a base hit past the 3rd baseman score the runner from 3rd and break the 5-5 tie. Jeong drilled the next batter while he was attempting to bunt. The following batter got the bunt down without being drilled. With runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out, Lee In-koo doubled to left/center to make the score 8-5. Adkins stayed on for a fairly uneventful 9th.

1 comment:

Eujin said...

I was at the Doosan game. A good job by the bullpen. It's the first time I've seen Ko Chang-seong pitch. He's quite young (although not as young as he looks) and only pitched about 3 innings last year. He throws mainly off-speed stuff but also a good fastball. The stadium speedometer clocked him between 89 and 151 km/h.

I saw your interview in Baseball Over Here. Bruce Cummings, another Chicagoan, has a piece in one of his books about baseball in North Korea. Apparently there is a team at Kim Sung-il University in Pyongyang. The Japanese introduced it there before the war.