Tuesday, June 30, 2009

6/26 - 6/28 Weekend Roundup: KIA vs Seoul Heroes

6/26 - Heroes 3, KIA 0
6/27 - Heroes 10, KIA 2
6/28 - KIA 5, Heroes 1

Heroes rookie starting pitcher Kang Yoon-guh enjoyed his first real taste of KBO success on Friday night. Kang tossed 6 innings(99 pitches, 55 strikes) of no-hit baseball. He did allow 6 walks, but he also struck out 8. Not bad for a guy who hasn't turned 20 yet. Kang got some help from the Heroes bullpen. Song Shin-yeong threw 2 scoreless innings, but gave up the only hit of the game. Reliever Shin Cheol-in tossed a scoreless 9th for the save. Heroes right fielder Song Ji-man hit a solo homer in the 4th inning to give the Heroes all the runs the would need. Catcher Heo-joon would deliver an RBI single to extend the lead to 2-0. Song would also hit an RBI sac fly in the 7th.

The Heroes absolutely battered poor Aquilino Lopez on Saturday night. Lopez surrendered 8 runs(7 earned) in his 5 1/3 innings of work. He allowed 11 hits, but managed to strike out 4. Senor Smoke got smoked. Heroes starting pitcher Kim Su-kyeong enjoyed the offensive outburst and cruised to an easy W. Kim tossed 5 innings(93 pitches, 53 strikes) of 2-run baseball. Kim gave up 6 hits and struck out 4. The only Heroes regular that didn't get a base hit was catcher Heo Joon. Heroes DH Cliff Brumbaugh finished 2-4 with a walk, a double a homer, 1 RBI and 2 runs scored. Shortstop Kang Jeong-ho enjoyed a 3-4 evening with a double and 3 RBIs.

KIA was able to get a small measure of revenge on Sunday thanks to a fine effort from starting pitcher Lee Dae-jin. Lee threw 5 shutout innings(76 pitches, 44 strikes). He allowed only 2 hits and 1 walk while striking out 4. KIA got on the scoreboard in the 1st inning with an RBI single from 1st baseman Choi Hee-seop. KIA added to its lead in the 7th inning thanks to an error by 3rd baseman Hwang Jae-gyun. Hwang couldn't find the handle on a weak grounder and a runner was able to score from 3rd. The Heroes scored a run in the top of the 8th thanks to a Lee Taek-geun RBI single. KIA would answer right back in the bottom of the 8th with a 3-run rally that put the game out of reach. A bases loaded single from KIA catcher Kim Sang-hoon would score 2 runs and be the knockout punch. KIA reliever Yoo Dae-hong recorded the final 4 outs to earn the save.

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