6/17 Roundup and News

Player-turned-announcer Ma Hae-yeong won a settlement for backpay from his former team. I'm not a big fan of Ma's stance on steroids, but the settlement is good news for current players.

On to the roundup...

Doosan 5, KIA 4
W - Lim Tae-hoon (9-1), L - Han Ki-joo (1-3)

Lim Tae-hoon(2.09 ERA, 0.78 WHIP) is leading the league with 9 relief wins and the season is just reaching the half-way point. Can he get to 20? Probably not, but it's going to be interesting to see if a reliever can finish in the league lead for W's.

Trailing 4-2 in the bottom of the 7th, the Bears tied the game with a 2-run rally. Doosan left fielder Kim Hyeon-su(.387/.465/.626) got the party started right with a solo homer to make the score 4-3. The solo homer chased KIA starter Yoon Seok-min(3.59 ERA, 1.42 WHIP) from the game. The final line on Yoon was 3 runs spread over 6 2/3 innings pitched(121 pitches, 77 strikes). Yoon allowed 6 hits and 4 walks while striking out 9. KIA reliever Yoo Dong-hoon(0.67 ERA, 0.87 WHIP) immeadiately surrendered a base hit to Doosan slugger Kim Dong-joo(.376/.479/.596). DH Yoo Jae-wong(.300/.417/.500) doubled to put runners on 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs. 2nd baseman Kim Jae-ho(.239/.349./.380) hit a chopper back to the pitcher. Yoo tossed the ball over to first in time for the out, but the throw came in low and wasn't handled cleanly by 1st baseman Hong Se-wan. The runner was safe and Kim Dong-joo was able to score to tie the game. With the score still tied in the bottom of the 9th and one out, Kim Dong-joo hit a flyball to the gap in left/center. Kim threw his bat in frustration. Center fielder Choi Yong-gyu let the ball bounce off the thumb of his glove and fall in for a hit. Kim raced to 2nd and was awarded a double. Kim advanced to 3rd on an infield single from 2nd baseman Kim Jae-ho. Shortstop Son Si-yeon was intentionally walked to load the bases. Pinch hitter Kim Jin-su(.263/.333/.263 in 19 AB's) hit a slow bouncer to 2nd. The ball hit off 2nd baseman Kim Jong-kuk's glove and rolled between his legs. Kim Dong-joo was able to score. KIA committed a walk off error. I'm sure it's happened before, but I can't remember the last time I saw it.

SK 6, Heroes 5
W - Jeon Byeong-doo (4-3), L - Kim Seong-hyeon (2-3), S - Jeong Dae-hyeon (8)

SK starter Song Eun-beom(2.90 ERA, 1.21 WHIP) was fairly mediocre in this one. The usually solid Song only lasted 4 1/3 innings(66 pitches, 50 strikes) and allowed 4 runs. Song surrendered 6 hits while striking out 3. Jeon Byeong-doo(3.30 ERA, 1.28 WHIP) was forced to tossed 3 1/3 innings of relief and earned a W for his trouble. The SK offense rode a solo homer from Na Ju-hwan(.292/.377/.442) in the 2nd inning and a 3-run blast from Kim Kang-min(.314/.382/.576) in the 5th to an early lead. SK reliever Jeong Dae-hyeon(1.07 ERA, 1.28 WHIP) recorded the final 5 outs to earn the save. Cliff Brumbaugh(.280/.407/.615) hit his league leading 20th homer for the Heroes.

Hanhwa 12, LG 4
W - Yoo Won-sang (2-4), L - Kim Kwang-su (1-3)

Hanhwa jumped all over LG starter Kim Kwang-su(7.46 ERA, 1.91 WHIP) in the first few innings and rode the early advantage to an easy win. Hanhwa 3rd baseman Lee Beom-ho(.282/.372/.540) lead the way by going 2-4 with a walk, 2 RBIs and 1 run scored. Hanhwa shortstop Song Kwang-min(.287/.317/.470) finished 3-5 with a homer, 1 RBI and 2 runs scored. Hanhwa center fielder Kang Dong-woo(.298/.356/.434) lead off the game with a solo homer. Kang finished 1-2 with a homer, 1 RBI and 2 runs scored. Hanhwa starting pitcher Yoo Won-sang(6.27 ERA, 1.94 WHIP) pitched well enough to win, but I don't think the Hanhwa faithful should believe in him more than the other zombies that populate the Hanhwa roster. Yoo tossed 5 innings(98 pitches, 49 strikes) and allowed 4 runs. Yoo allowed only 4 hits, but walked 6(!) and struck out only 2. Thankfully, he had a large cushion to work with. The Hanhwa bullpen tossed 4 shutout innings to help Hanhwa earn the W. Way not to give up an 8-run lead guys! Roberto Petagine(.378/.506/.679) was the lone bright spot for LG. The veteran slugger hit his 18th homer of the season and walked twice.

Lotte 1, Samsung 0
W - Song Seung-joon (5-3), L - Kwon Hyeok (3-2), S - Kang Yeong-sik (2)

Matt - 29
Aaron - 27

Erm, yeah. I can't believe these teams played a 9 inning baseball game and only scored 1 run between them.

Lotte starter Song Seung-joon(4.48 ERA, 1.58 WHIP) deserves a lot of credit. He didn't walk his usual 5 batters or surrender his usual 10 hits. Song tossed 7 innings(102 pitches, 58 strikes) of shutout baseball. He allowed 2 hits, 3 walks and 1 hit batsman while striking out 3. Samsung starter Lee Woo-seon(2.25 ERA, 1.63 WHIP in 8 innings) was chased from the game in the 4th inning because of a high pitch count. He needed 80 pitches to record 11 outs. Kwon Hyeok(1.60 ERA, 1.07 WHIP) relieved him and stuck around for 3 1/3 innings. Kwon must've felt out of place. He usually doesn't start warming until the 6th inning and he rarely stays in for more than an inning. Maybe he'll join the rotation soon. Either way, it was too much for the talented lefty. Kwon surrendered a run during his 4th inning of work. After allowing a lead off walk and a double, Kwon was removed for Jeong Hyeon-wook(2.12 ERA, 1.53 WHIP). Jeong had to face Lotte slugger Lee Dae-ho(.299/.385/.536). Hewas able to take care of Lee. The next batter, DH Hong Seong-heun(.339/.380/.466), hit a grounder up the middle. This time, the runner went on contact and scored with out a play while Hong was forced at first. 1-0, Lotte. Lotte reliever Kang Yeong-sik(4.85 ERA, 1.50 WHIP) recorded the final 2 outs to earn his 2nd save.