The KBO played a league wide double-header on Sunday thanks to a nation wide rain storm on Saturday.
The 39 runs scored by the Twins and Heroes were a KBO record. This account of the events is essentially unreadable. This one, by Aaron at the EWC, is slightly more coherent. Which one of these guys is paid to do this again?
Doosan vs Samsung
5/15 - Doosan 5, Samsung 3
5/17 - Samsung 8, Doosan 6
5/17 - Doosan 8, Samsung 7
On Friday the mediocre Samsung offense couldn't overcome an above average pitching performance, while Samsung starter Bae Yong-su was Bae Yong-su. Bae ate up some innings, gave up some runs and threw like he was a decade older than his listed age. Bae is actually a year younger than I am. I suddenly feel ancient. Doosan starter Kim Sang-hyeon was solid, but not spectacular. It occurred to me that Samsung really does not have a middle of the order prescence of any kind. A washed up Yang Joon-hyeok and Park Seok-min(when he's not in the trainer's room) is supposed to scare teams? Really? Samsung has the least scary lineup in the KBO and it's not close. Kim tossed 6 2/3 innings(84 pitches, 53 strikes) of 2-run baseball. He allowed 7 hits and 2 walks while striking out 5. To be fair, Yang did hit his 343rd career homer off of Doosan reliever Lee Jae-woo in the 8th inning, but Samsung never really threatened after the 2nd inning.
In the first game of Sunday's doubleheader, both starting pitchers were pummelled. Samsung starter Francisco Cruceta was chased from the game in the 3rd inning and Doosan starter Jeong Jae-hoon stuck around for 5 innings, but only because his pitch count wasn't ridiculous. Both allowed 6 runs. Somehow, Samsung reliever Kim Sang-su threw 3 scoreless innings. Consecutively. In the same game. Scoreless. Kim has been an arsonist all season. Samsung didn't homer during the game, but 7 of their 14 hits were doubles. Samsung 1st baseman Chae Tae-in hit 2 of them and drove in 2 runs. Doosan superstar Kim Hyeon-su posted an interesting stat line. 0-1 with 4 walks and 1 run scored. I was surprised Doosan didn't put him in motion more often. I guess they wanted to save his legs for the 2nd game.
Samsung actually held a lead in the 2nd game of the double header. The Lions lead 7-6 in the 6th inning. Samsung first baseman Chae Tae-in hit another double in the 5th inning to score 2 runs and give Samsung a 7-6 advantage. In addition to the 2-RBI double, Choi finished the game 3-4 with a walk and a run scored. Doosan tied the game in the bottom of the 6th thanks to a sac fly from outfielder Jeong Su-bin. Doosan would later take a 1-run lead in the 8th inning. With two outs and the bases loaded, Jeong Su-bin drew a walk to score the go-ahead run. Lee Yong-chan struck out 2 during a scoreless 9th inning and recorded the save.
LG vs Seoul Heroes
5/15 - LG 22, Heroes 17
5/17 - LG 11, Heroes 5
5/17 - Heroes 6, LG 5 (11)
Is it just me or is LG in a lot of these games with ridiculous scores? The 39 runs, 40 hits, 84 total bases, 11 homers and 17 runs by the Heroes in a loss were all KBO records. Roberto Petagine, Lee Jin-yeong and Kwon Yong-kwan drove in 5 runs apiece for the Twins. Heroes right fielder Song Ji-man drove in 7 for the Heroes. I'm legitimately surprised that neither Brumbaugh nor Clark went deep in this game.
The first game of the double header was slighty more normal than Friday night's contest. Twins leadoff man Park Yong-taek had a fine night at the plate. His 2-run homer in the 5th inning gave LG a 4-3 lead over the Heroes. The Twins allowed the Heroes to tie the game on a Lee Taek-geun solo homer in the 5th. Park's RBI single in the top of the 6th gave LG a 6-4 lead and proved to be the difference on the scoreboard. Park finished the game 4-4 with 4 RBI, 2 runs scored, a walk and a stolen base.
After being lit up for 33 runs over the previous 18 innings of baseball, the Heroes managed to escape with some dignity in the 2nd game of the Sunday doubleheader. With the Heroes losing 5-4 in the bottom of the 9th, Heroes right fielder Song Ji-man doubled off the wall to lead off the inning. Song advanced to third on Kim Gui-tae's sacrifice bunt. The next batter, Kwon Do-yeong, hit an old school Baltimore Chop to the LG shortstop. Kwon was out at first, but Song was able to score and tie the game at 5. Then in the bottom of the 11th with runners on 1st and 2nd and 2 outs, Kang Jang-ho hit a bouncer to the left side of the LG infield. 3rd baseman Jeong Sang-hoon pulled an "ole" and shortstop Kim Tae-won allowed the ball to bounce off his glove. The winning run was able to score while the LG infielders flopped all over themselves. Not exactly Scott Podsednik in the Game Two, but I'm sure the Heroes will take it.
KIA vs SK
5/15 - KIA 5, SK 2 (12)
5/17 - SK 4, KIA 3
5/17 - KIA 4, SK 1
In the battle of the foreign starters on Friday, Lopez and Kadokura have to call it a draw. Senor Smoke threw 7 innings(107 pitches, 77 strikes) of 2-run baseball. He allowed 9 hits and 1 walk while striking out 8. Ken Kadokura also tossed 7 innings(100 pitches, 60 strikes), but he allowed only 1 run. Kadokura surrendered 4 hits and 3 walks while striking out 6. KIA was losing 2-1 in the 8th, but center fielder Kim Won-seop hit a solo homer to tie the game at 2. In the top of the 12th, KIA rallied for three runs thanks to solo homers from Choi Hee-seop and infielder Kim Sang-hyeon and an RBI single from short stop Lee Hyeon-gon. Yim Joon-hyeok threw a 1-2-3 12th inning to record the save.
In the first game of Sunday's double header, SK gave ace Kim Kwang-hyeon an early lead and he cruised to a complete game victory. In the 1st inning, DH Lee Ho-joon delivered an RBI double and 3rd baseman Choi Jeong hit a 2-run bomb to give SK a 3-0 lead. Lee would also add an RBI single in the 3rd inning to give SK a 4-1 advantage. Kim Kwang-hyeon needed 125 pitches(80 strikes) to finish the game. He allowed 3 runs on 11 hits and 0 walks. He recorded 5 strikeouts in the game. Not exactly vintage Kim, but a solid effort.
KIA sent Rick Guttormson to the mound in the 2nd game of the double header and he didn't disappoint. Guttormson threw 8 innings(98 pitches, 61 strikes) of 1-run baseball. He allowed 6 hits and 1 walk while striking out 3. KIA infielder Ahn Chi-hong hit a 3-run bomb in the 5th inning that proved to be the difference on the scoreboard. KIA closer Yoon Seok-min threw a scoreless 9th to earn the save.
Hanwha vs Lotte
5/15 - Lotte 7, Hanwha 1
5/17 - Hanwha 12, Lotte 8
5/17 - Hanhwa 3, Lotte 1
Song Seung-joon gave Lotte a quality start and the Lotte offense provided enough scoring to earn the W. Song tossed 6 1/3 solid innings(105 pitches, 63 strikes) of 1-run baseball. He allowed 6 hits and 2 walks while striking out 6. The majority of the Lotte offense came from the 3-4-5 hitters. Left fielder Park Jeong-joon and Karim Garcia hit a solo homers, while #4 hitter Lee Dae-ho hit a 2-run bomb.
Hanwha ace Ryu Hyeon-jin started the first game of Sunday's doubleheader and enjoyed a solid outing. Ryu threw 7 1/3 innings(124 pitches, 79 strikes) of 3-run ball before the Hanwha bullpen allowed the Giants to get back into the game. Ryu allowed 6 hits, 2 walks and one hit batsman while striking out 5. Lotte mounted a fake rally in the 8th and 9th innings, but the Hanwha offense had already exploded for 12 runs and 5 homers. Hanwha infielder Song Kwang-min hit a pair of homers while going 3-4 with 4 RBIs and 2 runs scored. Kim Tae-gyun, Lee Do-hyeong and pinch hitter Lee Yeong-woo all went deep against Lotte.
The 2nd game of the double header featured a pair of quality starts from both Lotte and Hanwha. Lotte's Cho Jeong-hoon was the tough luck loser. Cho tossed 8 1/3 innings(108 pitches, 78 strikes) of 3-run baseball. Cho allowed 9 hits and 0 walks while striking out 5. Hanwha's Kim Hyeok-min was slightly better on Sunday night. Kim allowed only 1 run during his 7 innings(98 pitches, 61 strikes) of work. He surrendered only 3 hits, 1 walk and 1 hit batsman during his start. He recorded 5 outs via the strikeout. With the score tied at 1 in the top of the 7th inning with a runner on 1st and o outs, Lee Beom-ho hit a double to center field that scored the run and untied the game. Hanwha added an insurance run on an RBI double by Yoon Jae-kuk in the top of the 9th. Brad Thomas recorded the final 5 outs in order to earn the save.
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