5/5 Roundup and News

Happy Children's Day!

Oh Seung-hwan is the youngest pitcher in the history of the KBO to reach 150 saves.

The KBO sold out all 4 games yesterday. Other than Opening Day, I can't remember the last time this happened for all 4 teams.

LG 12, Doosan 0
W - Shim Soo-chang (3-2), L - Jeong Jae-hoon (2-1)

LG absolutely clobbered Doosan. LG slugger Roberto Petagine, 2nd baseman Park Kyeong-su and 1st baseman Choi Dong-su drove in 3 runs each. Park hit a 3-run homer during LG's 5-run 1st inning rally. Petagine hit a 2-run bomb in the 6th inning. LG starting pitcher Shim Soo-chang was able to cruise to an easy W. Shim tossed 7 shutout innings(85 pitches, 50 strikes). He allowed only 5 hits and 1 hit batsman while striking out 2.

Seoul Heroes 7, KIA 6
W - Kim Seong-hyeon (1-1), L - Yoon Seok-min (0-3)

KIA held a 6-5 lead heading into the bottom of the 9th inning. Newly annointed closer Yoon Seok-min had shut the Heroes down in the 8th inning and he was asked to hold the lead in the 9th as well. With one out in the 9th, Heroes pinch hitter Oh Yoon doubled to right/center. With two outs and Oh still stranded on 2nd, Heroes left fielder Jeong Su-seong hit a bouncer over the head of KIA 2nd baseman Choi Yong-gyu to score Oh from 2nd and tie the game at 6. The next batter, Heroes center fielder Lee Taek-geun hit a double down the right field line to score Jeong from first and earn Lee a beatdown from his teammates. Cliff Brumbaugh hit a 2-run bomb in the first inning for his 8th homer of the season. KIA DH Hong Se-won and outfielder Na Ju-hwan both hit 2-run homers during the game. Na went deep in the 2nd inning and Hong went yard in the 3rd.

Samsung 4, Hanwha 2
W - Choi Won-Je (2-0), L - Yang Hoon (0-2), S - Oh Seung-hwan (8)

Samsung starter Francisco Cruceta was knocked around early, but the Samsung bullpen worked 6 shutout innings to keep the Lions in the game and eventually earn the W. Cruceta surrendered 2 runs during his 3 innings of work, but it took him 70 pitches to record 9 outs. I guess he wanted all those Children's Day fans to get their money's worth. Ahn Yeong-myeong pitched well enough to earn a W, but a lack of run production from the Hanwha offense and a few rotten innings from the Hanwha bullpen doomed him to a ND. Ahn tossed 6 innings(85 pitches, 52 strikes) of 1-run baseball. He allowed 6 hits and struck out 4. In the 8th inning, Samsung rallied for 3 runs thanks to some shoddy pitching and some worse defense. Samsung right fielder Kang Byeong-gyu hit a ground ball to the left side that was bobbled by two infielders, but no errors were handed out. The next batter, Park Han-yi hit a deep fly ball to center that was completely misplayed by the Hanwha center fielder. When an outfielder turns around twice while tracking a ball, he's probably not coming down with it. Again, Park was given a triple and an RBI instead of an error being awarded. The fly ball tied the game at 2. The next batter, Choi Hyeong-woo, doubled off the right field wall to give Samsung a 3-2 lead. After a sac bunt got Choi into 3rd, Park Jin-man hit a sac fly to left to give Samsung a 4-2 advantage. Oh Seung-hwan tossed a 1-2-3 9th inning to record his 150th career save.

SK 4, Lotte 0
W - Kim Kwang-hyeon (4-0), L - Cho Jeong-hoon (3-3)

Yesterday was vintage Kim Kwang-hyeon. The SK ace tossed 8 1/3 innings(98 pitches, 59 strikes) of shutout baseball. He allowed only 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 4. This was the ace that everyone was expecting at the WBC. It looks like he's finally got himself back on schedule after being disrupted by the WBC. This was Kim's 3rd straight quality start and his 2nd 8-inning+ start in a row. At the plate, SK 1st baseman Lee Ho-joon turned in a solid effort on Children's Day. Ho finished 2-4 with 2 RBIs and 1 run scored. He tagged Lotte starter Cho Jeong-hoon for a 2-run homer in the 5th inning.