8/21 - KIA 8, SK 4
8/22 - KIA 11, SK 4
8/23 - KIA 2, SK 1
I'm willing to officially write off SK after a sweep at the hands of KIA. When SK ace Kim Kwang-hyeon walked off the field with a broken hand, he took SK's 3-peat hopes with him. The team is 8-8 since Kim broke his hand and they've fallen to 3rd place. 5 of the 8 losses have come in direct competition with the Tigers.
On Friday night Rick Guttormson ate up 5 1/3 innings while the KIA offense battered SK starter Ken Kadokura and reliever Lee Seung-ho. With the score tied at 4 in the 8th inning, Na Ji-hwan hit a pinch-hit grand slam to put the Tigers on top for good. KIA 3rd baseman and potential MVP candidate Kim Sang-hyeon finished the day 2-3 with a walk, 2 homers, 2 RBIs and 2 runs scored. I'm officially started the Kim Sang-hyeon MVP bandwagon. Good seats still available. At present Kim is leading the league with 27 homers and 99(!) RBIs.
The KIA offense continued to roll on Saturday and Senor Smoke, Aquilino Lopez, was able to cruise to another W. Lopez tossed 7 innings of 2-run baseball. He gave up 6 hits and 2 walks while striking out 8. Lopez is a making a legit case for a Golden Glove(not the best fielder like in the US, but a "best at his position award). The KIA outfield stepped up big time in this game. Kim Won-seop went 2-3 with 2 walks, a homer, 2 RBIs and 3 runs scored. Left fielder Jeong Sang-ho went 3-3 with 2 walks, 1 RBI and 2 runs scored. Nothing remotely good or interesting happened for the 2-time defending champs.
On Sunday, Kim Sang-hyeon hit a solo homer in the 3rd inning to give KIA a 2-0 advantage. That would be all the scoring the Tigers would need or get. KIA starter Yoon Seok-min bullied the Wyverns for 7 2/3 innings. Yoon allowed 1 run on 6 hits and 2 walks while striking out 9. KIA reliever Yoo Dong-hoon recorded the final 4 outs for the save. The Wyverns bullpen gave a valiant effort after SK starting pitcher Song Eun-beom was removed after the 4th inning. 5 different Wyverns pitchers combined to throw 5 scoreless innings. Lee Seung-ho threw 3 scoreless. The Wyverns went with an "All-Hand-On-Deck-Approach." Gary Glover tossed 2/3 of an inning and is scheduled to start on Tuesday.
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