6/18 Roundup and News

Reader Ben in Beijing asks, "Do you know if tickets for the All-Star game or the playoffs are even possible to get? Or am I better off just going to a regular season game?"

Playoffs are definitely doable. I was able to get first round tickets by walking up to the window, but 2nd round tickets had to be ordered. Tickets can get scarce in the later rounds, but there are always scalpers. The all-star game is probably doable, but I've never tried to go. It's in Gwangju this year and the KIA Tigers have one of the smaller stadiums in the league. I'm honestly not sure about ticket availability, but I'll do some snooping. Regular season tickets are plentiful everywhere. Send me an email if you have further questions.

KIA 4, Doosan 2
W - Han Ki-joo (2-3), L - Kim Myeong-je (1-2)

Doosan needed 9 pitchers to finish a 9 inning game. To be fair, starting pitcher Juan Cedeno(6.00 ERA, 2.06 WHIP) was awful. He didn't allow any runs, but he couldn't find the plate with a map and a flashlight. Cedeno walked 5 batters in 2 innings. Only 17 of his 44 pitches went for strikes. KIA's Seo Jae-wong(4.09 ERA, 1.33 WHIP) was much better. Seo tossed 6 innings(90 pitches, 61 strikes) of 1-run baseball. He allowed 4 hits, 2 walks, 1 hit batsman while striking out 3. Seo would have been in line for the win if he actually got some run support and the KIA bullpen didn't surrender the tying run as soon as he got a lead. With the scored tied at 2 in the top of the 9th, KIA mounted a rally. KIA put runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out. Right fielder Na Ju-wan(.247/.348/.444) knocked a base hit through the left side of the Doosan infield to score the go ahead run. KIA tacked on some insurance with an RBI single from 1st baseman Hong Se-wan(.286/.389/.389, not a mistake). KIA reliever Han Ki-joo(4.98 ERA, 1.52 WHIP) tossed both the 8th and 9th innings to earn the W.

Seoul Heroes 6, SK 1
W - Lee Hyeon-seung (9-4), L - Ken Kadokura (3-3)

SK starter Ken Kadokura(5.15 ERA, 1.47 WHIP) was battered in the first inning and the Wyverns never recovered. With runners on the corners and 1 run already plated, Heroes right fielder Song Ji-man(.348/.426/.665) clubbed a 3-run homer to give the Heroes a 4-0 advantage. Song finished the game 3-4 with 5 RBIs and 1 run scored. He was a double away from a cycle. Kadokura allowed all 6 runs during his 5 innings(99 pitches, 62 strikes) of work. He allowed 8 hits and 3 walks while only striking out 1. Heroes starter Lee Hyeon-seung(2.70 ERA, 1.12 WHIP) was the hero last night. Lee tossed 7 2/3 innings(116 pitches, 71 strikes) of 1-run baseball. He allowed 4 hits and 2 walks while striking out 3. His only mistake came in the 8th inning when he gave up a solo homer to SK 3rd baseman Kim Yeon-hoon(.382/.436/.529 in 34 AB's).

LG 12, Hanhwa 6
W - Jeong Chan-heon (5-0), L - Jeong Min-cheol (0-6)

LG lead only 5-4 in the 7th inning, but the Twins rallied for 3 in the 7th and 4 more in the 8th to put the game out of reach. Hanhwa managed a fake rally in the bottom of the 8th, but LG was never in any danger of giving up the lead. The LG outfield stole the show last night. Left fielder Park Yong-taek(.387/.454/.613) finished 4-5 with a double, a homer, a stolen base, 2 RBIs and 3 runs scored. Center fielder Lee Dae-hyeong(.289/.348/.335) finished only 3-5 with 2 runs scored, but Lee stole 4(!) bases. On the mound...nothing remotely good happened for either teams. Well, both teams managed to record the necessary amount of outs to finish the game. That counts, right?

Lotte 9, Samsung 6
W - Cho Jeong-hoon (6-5), L - Jeong Hyeon-wook (4-3), S - Jon Adkins (11)

Matt - 29
Aaron - 28

Hey! It's a long season! Actually, I'm saving all my 10 won coins so I can use them to buy Aaron dinner in September.

Samsung jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the 1st inning only to watch Runelvys Hernandez(6.03 ERA, 1.69 WHIP) give it right back in the 4th inning. The score would remain tied at 6 until the 7th inning. Lotte DH Hong Seung-hoon(.341/.381/.480) launched a solo homer off of the usually reliable Jeong Hyeon-wook(2.21 ERA, 1.53 WHIP). Hong finished the game 2-5 with 2 RBIs and 1 run scored. Samsung reliever Kim Sang-su(5.35 ERA, 1.89 WHIP) came in for the 8th inning and did what Kim Sang-su does best...give up runs. Lotte starter Cho Jeong-hoon(5.31 ERA, 1.49 WHIP) was dreadful in the first inning, but he managed to stick around and earn the W. Cho tossed 6 scoreless innings after getting pantsed in the first. What are the odds? Cho gutted his way through 7 innings(104 pitches, 65 strikes). He allowed 8 hits, 2 walks and 1 hit batsman while recording 10(!) K's. Lotte 1st baseman Kim Joo-chan(.294/.321/.427) finished 2-5, but it felt like he was on base all night. Kim drove in a pair and scored a pair. Jon Adkins(3.80 ERA, 1.27 WHIP) threw a 1-2-3 9th to earn the save.