6/10 Roundup and News

It's a crowded field for the Rookie of the Year award, but it sounds like Doosan's Hong Sang-sam is going to be one of the front runners.

A broadcast agreement of sorts was reached. All this means is that we'll get to go through the same nonsense next year too. Here's hoping they don't black games out for a week again.

Marc asked a great question, "Does the artificial turf common in Asia drain better than real grass, thus causing fewer rainouts?" The answer is, no. Much like Wrigley Field in Chicago, most of the stadiums here don't really have a modern drainage system. I've seen groundskeepers use a giant squeegie to push the water off the turf, but drainage? Not really. When it rains in Daegu, it's not uncommon to see lakes form in the outfield.

On to the roundup...

LG 8, Doosan 0
W - Bong Jung-geun (4-7), L - Geum Min-cheol (1-1)

I wanted to write that Dr. Bong(2.92 ERA, 1.11 WHIP) put the Twins on his back and carried them to a shutout victory, but when his team puts up 8 runs, that's not really true. Bong tossed 8 innings(102 pitches, 66 strikes) of shutout baseball. Bong allowed only 5 hits, 2 walks and 1 hit batsman while recording 7 K's and a half dozen fist pumps. The most shocking part of LG's 8-run outburst isn't what happened, it's what didn't happen. Roberto Petagine(.389/.510/.684) didn't record a hit or walk. The big man went 0-4 with 1 K and 1 run scored. He reached on a fielder's choice. The left side of the Twins infield had a great game. 3rd baseman Jeong Seong-hoon(.319/.393/.447) went 4-5 with a double 2 RBIs and 1 run scored. Shortstop Kwon Yong-kwan(.239/.303/.347) finished 4-4 with 2 RBIs and 1 run scored. Center fielder Lee Dae-hyeong(.286/.345/.338) hit a 3-run, inside the park homer that didn't involve an injury or someone falling down. He simply put his head down and ran after hitting a ball into the gap in right/center. Lee finished the game 1-3 with a walk, 2 runs scored and 3 RBIs.

Seoul Heroes 4, KIA 2
W - Lee Bo-geun (4-2), L - Park Kyeong-tae (0-2), S - Shin Min-cheol (2)

Yoon Seok-min(3.84 ERA, 1.41 WHIP) turned in a solid start for KIA, but it was wasted thanks to a mediocre offense and a poor bullpen. Yoon tossed 6 innings(108 pitches, 68 strikes) of 2-run baseball. He allowed 7 hits, 3 walks and 1 hit batsman while striking out 7. Facing a 2-1 deficit in the 8th inning, the Tigers tied the game thanks to an RBI single from catcher Kim Sang-hoon(.224/.337/.372). The Heroes untied the game in the bottom of the 8th with a 2-run rally. KIA reliever Park Kyeong-tae(7.80 ERA, 1.60 WHIP) faced one batter, surrendered a hit and took the loss because Lim Joon-hyeok(4.35 ERA, 1.74 WHIP) came in and gave up an RBI single to Hereoes catcher Kang Gui-tae(.260/.319/.325). Heroes reliever Hwang Doo-seong(3.18 ERA, 1.37 WHIP) was pressed into action as a starter. He didn't last very long and that was probably a good thing. The Heroes bullpen managed to throw 7 2/3 innings of 1 run baseball. Shin Cheol-in(5.22 ERA, 1.09 WHIP) recorded a perfect 9th inning for the save.

SK 7, Samsung 5
W - Goh Hyo-joon (5-4), L - Yoon Seong-hwan (3-2), S - Jeong Dae-hyeon (7)

Yoon Seong-hwan(5.49 ERA, 1.36 WHIP) didn't make it out of the 1st inning. So much for that recent string of solid starting pitching. SK starter Goh Hyo-joon(3.24 ERA, 1.27 WHIP) was quality, but the Wyverns bullpen was fairly awful. Goh threw 7 innings(119 pitches, 74 strikes) of 1-run baseball. He allowed 3 hits, 2 walks and 2 hit batsmen while striking out 10(!). After Goh left the game in the 7th, 3 Wyverns relievers combined to surrender 4 runs to the Lions. It was a total team effort from the SK offense, but center fielder Kim Kang-min(.333/.402/.583) lead the way for the Wyverns. Kim finished 3-4 with a double 2 RBIs and 1 run scored. Starting catcher Park Kyeong-wan(.256/.371/.500) got the night off, but backup Jeong Sang-ho(.393/.443/.643) did a solid job of filling in. Jeong went 2-4 with a solo homer.

Lotte 5, Hanhwa 0
W - Song Seung-joon (4-3), L - Ryu Hyeon-jin (7-3)

I'm 86% convinced that Song and Ryu switched jerseys before the game. Lotte starter Song Seung-joon(4.96 ERA, 1.67 WHIP) enjoyed his best start of the season last night. Song tossed 8 shutout innings(111 pitches, 69 strikes). He allowed 8 hits and 1 walk while striking out 3. Ryu Hyeon-jin(3.67 ERA, 1.33 WHIP) looked like, well, Song Seung-joon. He allowed a lot of baserunners and more than a handful of runs, but generally kept the game from getting ridiculous. Ryu surrendered 4 runs during his 7 1/3 innings of work(88 pitches, 61 strikes). Ryu allowed 11 hits while striking out 4. To his credit, he didn't walk a single batter. Lotte left fielder Jeong Bo-myeong(.271/.371/.339) hit a single to right to score Lee Dae-ho from 3rd in the 4th inning. Neither team would score again until the 8th inning. Lotte broke the game open with a 4-run rally. With a runner on 3rd and 1 out, Cho Seong-hwan(.275/.324/.451) ripped a double to center to give Lotte a 2-run advantage. The next batter, 3rd baseman Lee Dae-ho(.298/.387/.546) homered to left and chases Ryu from the game. The Giants tacked on an insurance run off of reliever Hwang Jae-gyu(2.86 ERA, 1.36 WHIP) to extend the lead to 5-0.