7/23 Roundup and News

Lotte 6, Doosan 4
W - Cho Jeong-hoon (9-6), L - Juan Cedeno (2-3), S - Jon Adkins (18)

This game sounds more exciting than it really was. Lotte rallied for 6(!) runs in the 3rd inning and that was all the Lotte offense could produce. Lotte 2nd baseman Cho Seong-hwan delivered a 2-RBI double and 1st baseman Lee Dae-ho clubbed a 2-run homer during the fateful 6th. Doosan was able to chip away, but the Bears ran out of outs before they could seriously challenge for the lead. Lotte starter Cho Jeong-hoon turned in a solid effort. Cho allowed only 2 runs during his 6 innings(81 pitches, 51 strikes) of work. Cho surrendered only 5 hits and 1 walk while striking out 4.

Samsung 7, Seoul Heroes 5 (10)
W - Kwon Hyeok (5-4), L - Lee Bo-geun (6-5)

The Heroes held a 5-3 lead in the top of the 9th inning, but Samsung mounted a rally. Samsung 2nd baseman Shin Myeon-cheol lead off the inning. Shin took the first pitch over the center field wall for a solo homer and made the score 5-4. The next batter, outfielder Park Han-yi, roped a line drive down the left field line for a double. After advancing to 3rd on an infield single, Park was thrown out at home on a ground ball to third for the first out of the inning. With one out and runners on 1st and 2nd, Lee Yong-wook managed to poke a basehit through the right side to score the runner from 2nd and tie the game at 5. Samsung loaded the bases with one out, but 1st baseman Kang Bong-gyu grounded into a 5-2-3 double play to end the inning. Samsung kept the Heroes off the scoreboard in the bottom of the 9th, so it was on to extras. In the top of the 10th, with a runner on 1st with one out, Shin Myeong-cheol delivered his 2nd homer of the game to give Samsung a 7-5 lead. Kwon Hyeok tossed a scoreless 10th to earn the W.

SK 5, Hanhwa 2
W - Song Eun-beom (11-2), L - Ryu Hyeon-jin (8-8), S - Goh Hyo-joon (1)

Ryu Hyeon-jin didn't pitch that badly, he just ran out of gas. Ryu tossed 7 1/3 innings(109 pitches, 72 strikes) and gave up all 5 SK runs. The Hanhwa ace allowed 7 hits and 2 walks while striking out 3. Ryu ran into some trouble in the 8th inning and was pulled after most of the damage had been inflicted. SK starter Song Eun-beom didn't get much run support, but the Hanhwa offense was happy to help him out when he did get into trouble. Song tossed 7 innings(83 pitches, 54 strikes) of 1-run baseball. Song allowed only 6 hits while striking out 1. The difference on the scoreboard proved to be a home run from an unlikely source. With a runner on 2nd in the 5th inning, SK 2nd baseman Jeong Geun-woo connected for a 2-run homer. Jeong's blast gave SK a 3-0 advantage and that would prove to be enough of an advantage against Hanhwa. Afte Lee Seung-ho and Ken Kadokura were unable to record an out in the 9th inning, SK turned to Goh Hyo-joon to nail down the W. Goh simply struck out the side in 15 pitches(10 strikes).

KIA 4, LG 0
W - Aquilino Lopez (8-3), L - Shim Su-chang (6-10)

The story here was Senor Smoke. Aquilino Lopez tossed 8 innings(114 pitches, 71 strikes) of shutout baseball. Lopez allowed only 4 hits and 3 walks while striking out 6. KIA pitcher Seo Jae-wong tossed a scoreless 9th. I guess Seo is going to stay in the bullpen for a while. I get the impression that Seo may or may not be the next guy in line for the KIA closer job. Should Seo get a chance, he'd be the 4th pitcher used in a closing role. KIA 3rd baseman Kim Sang-hyeon lead the charge for the Tigers at the plate. Kim went 2-4 with a homer, 2 RBIs and 1 run scored. Kim hit a solo homer in the 2nd inning to put the Tigers on the scoreboard. His blast would be the only run the Tigers would need.