I had no idea suspended Lotte outfielder Jung Soo-keun was so colorful. Unless he's developed a curveball, I don't think he's going to help Lotte this year, but he'll probably be back in the field sooner rather than later. I get the impression that the career .281 hitter is one of those guys that probably should have had a better career than he did.
Also, KIA Tigers outfielder Lee Jeong-beom stole his 500th career base over the weekend. Lee holds the KBO single season record of 84 stolen bases in 1994. He's only been caught stealing 108 times during his 14 year KBO career. The money quote is here,
"He had a chance to break the record but said he wouldn’t do so during the mourning period for the late President Roh Moo-hyun."
I sure hope he didn't tell his opponents about this. This post gets the "idiots" tag for Jung's continued stupidity. Not for Lee's political preferences, but it is a little silly. If he takes it that seriously, why not make the record a tribute to the former president?
On to the weekend that was...
Doosan vs. Lotte
6/5 - Doosan 8, Lotte 7
6/6 - Lotte 8, Doosan 0
6/7 - Lotte 1, Doosan 0
The Friday night game was a wild scene. Lotte actually held a 5-0 lead into the 7th inning, but Doosan rallied for 6 in the bottom of the 7th. Lotte starting pitcher Cho Jeong-hoon appeared to run out of gas and started walking guys with the bases loaded. Not a good sign. With the bases loaded and 2 outs, Doosan left fielder Kim Hyeon-su gave Doosan the lead with a 2-run single. 1st baseman Lee Seong-yeol singled to left. Doosan infielder Lee Won-seok tried to score from second. The play at the plate was close, but Lotte catcher Kang Min-ho got in front of Lee and put the tag on him before he touched the plate. After the play at the plate, Lee laid on the field for a solid 8 minutes. Replays showed that the side of his head struck bounced off of Kang's knee protector. Ouch. I'm guessing Lee is concussed and out for a week or two. In the top of the 8th inning, Lotte's Kang Min-ho tied the game with a solo homer. The game remained tied at 6 after 9 innings. The two teams traded runs in the 10th thanks to Lotte's Kim Min-sang scoring on a wild pitch and Doosan's Yoo Jae-wong hitting an RBI single. Doosan broke the 7-7 tie in the bottom of the 11th on an RBI infield single from 3rd baseman Kim Dong-joo with no outs and the bases loaded. Doosan reliever Oh Hyeon-taek deserves a lot of credit for his 5 innings of relief work after starter Kim Sang-hyeon didn't make it out of the 2nd inning. Oh allowed 1 run on 4 hits and struck out 5. He also kept the score from getting ridiculous.
Lotte starter Jang Won-joon tossed 5 2/3 shutout innings and reliever Bae Jang-ho tossed 3 1/3 shutout innings on Saturday. Jang needed 121 pitches to record 17 outs, but he didn't allow a run. He surrendered 4 hits, 4 walks and 1 hit batsmen, but also managed to strikeout 5. The Lotte offense also woke up for this one. Left fielder Jeong Bo-myeong went 2-4 with 2 doubles and 3 RBIs. Doosan starter Juan Cedeno doesn't look like he's going to be on the roster much longer. In Cedeno's 5 innings of work, he allowed 6 runs on 8 hits and 2 walks.
Lotte welcomed starting pitcher Son Min-han back to the team on Sunday. Son has been out since spring training with a shoulder injury. The veteran righty threw 6 shutout innings(87 pitches, 58 strikes). Son allowed only 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 2. Reliever Lee Jeong-hoon tossed the final 3 innings and earned the save. Lee allowed 2 hits and 1 hit batsman while striking out 5. Lotte's only run came in the first inning. 1st baseman Kim Joo-chan lead off the game with a double and scored on 2nd baseman Cho Seong-hwan's RBI single. Doosan starting pitcher Kim Sun-woo was the tough luck loser. Kim allowed only 1 run during his 6 innings(82 pitches, 52 strikes) of work. He gave up 6 hits and 1 walk while striking out 5.
Seoul Heroes vs. LG
6/5 - LG 8, Heroes 7
6/6 - Heroes 11, LG 4
6/7 - Heroes 7, LG 1
The Heroes held a 7-6 lead in the top of the 9th inning, but Roberto Petagine hit a 2-run homer to give LG a 8-7 advantage. I still can't believe they pitched to him. It was Petagine's 2nd homerun of the night. He hit a solo blast in the 2nd for LG's first run. Bad Bobby finished the night 3-5 with 2 homers, 4 RBIs and 2 runs scored. He's a machine. LG 3rd baseman and #3 hitter Jeong Seong-hoon also turned in a solid night. Jeong went 2-4 with a walk and 3 RBIs batting in front of Petagine.
Strong starting pitching did not figure in Saturday night's game. Both starters were chased from the game in the 3rd inning. The Heroes bullpen actually threw 6 2/3 shutout innings, while the LG bullpen...didn't fair as well. The Heroes banged out 4 homers against LG pitching, 3 of them off the relief corps. Center fielder Doug Clark lead the charge by going 3-5 with 2 walks, a double, a homer, 5 RBIs and 2 runs scored while batting first. Doug's 3-run bomb in the 3rd inning tied the game at 4. Yikes. He did misplay a ball in centerfield and gifted a pair of runs to LG, but when your team scores 11 runs, who's going to remember that? We did have another Rick Bauer sighting. Rick walked two batters and gave up the homer to Clark. How did you enjoy your stay in Korea, Rick?
Sunday's game actually featured a quality start from a starting pitcher. Heroes starter Lee Hyeon-seung threw 8 innings(101 pitches, 65 strikes) of 1-run baseball. Lee allowed only 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 3. The one LG run came on a homerun by Jeong Seong-hoon in the 4th inning. Heroes 1st baseman Lee Sung-yong finished the game 1-3 with 1 walk, 1 run scored and 4 RBI. Lee clubbed a 3-run bomb in the 6th inning to ice the game. It's nice to write about an LG game that doesn't require a blow-by-blow of ANOTHER dramatic comeback. Good job, Heroes.
Hanhwa vs. SK
6/5 - Hanhwa 4, SK 3
6/6 - SK 14, Hanhwa 5
6/7 - SK 5, Hanhwa 4
Friday's game is closer than it sounds. Hanhwa was up 4-0 in the 9th when SK fake rallied for 3 runs. All of Hanhwa's runs came via the homer. Right fielder Kang Dong-woo hit a solo bomb in the 6th inning to put Hanhwa on the scoreboard. Later in the 6th, DH Kim Tae-wan added a 2-run homer. 1st baseman Victor Diaz clubbed another solo shot in the 8th to make the score 4-0. Hanhwa starter Yoon Won-sang deserved the W that he got. Yoon threw 6 innings(98 pitches 57 strikes) of shutout baseball. He allowed 3 hits, 3 walks and 1 hit batsman while striking out 2. Hanhwa closer Brad Thomas recorded the save, but didn't really deserve it. 3 of the 4 batters he faced reached base and he allowed 1 earned run.
SK absolutely hung one on Hanhwa starter Jeong Min-cheol...and the Hanhwa bullpen. The SK offense was lead by 1st baseman Lee Ho-joon. Lee went 3-3 with a solo homer in the 4th inning, 2 RBIs and 2 runs scored. Center fielder Kim Kang-min was a double away from a cycle. Kim went 3-5 with a triple, a homer, 3 RBIs and 2 runs scored. SK starter Song Eun-beom was the lucky beneficiary of the SK offense. Song didn't really pitch all that well. He allowed 4 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks during his 5 2/3 innings of work(94 pitches, 59 strikes). He did manage to strike out 5.
I made a special effort to watch the game on Sunday. I actually told someone, "I can't go out this afternoon. I want to watch the SK/Hanhwa game." I really wanted to see SK ace Kim Kwang-hyeon vs. Hanhwa, erm, jack(He's not an ace, but he's definitely a face card) Ahn Yeong-myeong. I was a little disappointed in the result. Kim looked human on Sunday. He labored through 5 2/3 innings(88 pitches, 53 strikes). Kim allowed 4 runs on 7 hits, 1 walk and 1 hit batsman. He did manage to strikeout 6, but he also surrendered solo homers to 2nd baseman Lee Yeo-sang and shortstop Song Kwang-min. Ahn was easily the better of the two pitchers. Ahn tossed 5 2/3 innings(101 pitches, 59 strikes) of 1-run baseball. He allowed 6 hits and 1 walk while striking out 3. Hanhwa held a 4-2 lead in the top of the 9th inning, but a 3-run SK rally left them behind in the bottom of the inning. With runners on 2nd and 3rd and no outs, Hanhwa turned to Brad Thomas to get them out of the jam. Hanhwa catcher Lee Hui-geun allowed a passed ball(it bounced off his glove on the fly, but it was a really awful throw), but SK's Jeong Geun-woo was late to the plate and was tagged out. SK left fielder Park Jae-sang hit an RBI single to make the score 4-3 and put the tying run on base. Sang was forced out on a ground ball hit by DH Kim Jae-hyeon for the 2nd out. Lee Jae-won singled to put runners on 1st and 2nd with 2 outs. Another passed ball allowed both runners to move into scoring position. 1st baseman Lee Ho-joon took the next pitch off the wall for a 2-RBI double. 3 SK relievers were needed to throw a scoreless 9th. Yoon Gil-hyeon recorded the final out for the vulture save.
KIA vs. Samsung
6/5 - KIA 3, Samsung 1
6/6 - KIA 2, Samsung 1
6/7 - KIA 4, Samsung 3 (12)
Samsung starter Ahn Ji-man was cruising in the early innings on Friday when he was lifted from the game. I'm guessing an arm injury of some sort, but I can't find any updates. Ahn threw 3 2/3 innings before the Walking Dead, Bae Yong-su, made an appearance in relief. Bae only allowed 2 runs, but they were all the Tigers would need. KIA starter Kwak Jeong-cheol threw 7 innings(100 pitches, 60 strikes) of shutout baseball. Kwak allowed only 4 hits and 3 walks while striking out 3. Samsung's lone run came in the 8th inning on a solo homer from right fielder Kang Bong-gyu. KIA closer Yoo Dong-hoon threw a scoreless 9th to earn the save.
Saturday's game was almost a repeat of Friday's. Samsung was shut down completely until Yang Joon-hyeok drove in a run in the 8th inning. KIA starter Rick Guttormson threw 6 innings(101 pitches, 59 strikes) of shutout baseball. Rick allowed 2 hits and 5 walks while striking out only 1. Runelvys Hernandez was the tough luck loser. The Big Man tossed 6 innings(89 pitches 51 strikes) of 2-run baseball. He gave up 5 hits, 4 walks and 1 hit batsman while striking out 2. KIA closer Yoo Dong-hoon recorded the final 4 outs for another save.
Samsung actually held a lead for the first time in this series on Sunday. It was the 12th inning and Oh Seung-hwan was walked off in the bottom of the 12th, but, hey, the Lions were actually on top for a whole commercial break. WE CAN BUILD ON THIS! Samsung broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the 12th with an RBI sac fly from left fielder Choi Hyeong-woo. Closer Oh Seung-hwan had already thrown 2 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball, but that just proves he's effective. Why not have your closer, who usually throws 15 pitches, stay on for 52? Oh came out for the 12th and was throroughly pantsed. Walk, base hit, base hit, base hit, vomit. KIA 2nd baseman Kim Jong-kuk hit a base hit to the gap in left/center for the walk off winner.
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