Wednesday, September 9, 2009

9/8 Roundup and News

According to the Korea Times, Kim Byung-hyun claims he still wants to pitch. The fact that he hasn't seriously tried to pitch in years says otherwise.

The Joongang Daily gives us a look at the Heroes two foreign sluggers, Cliff Brumbaugh and Doug Clark. I like the strategy the Heroes are taking with these two. It's almost impossible to predict what foreign pitchers will be able to do, so why not add two bats instead? It reminds me of the age old fantasy baseball strategy of loading up on hitting in the early rounds.

Doosan 7, Seoul Heroes 3
W - Lee Jae-woo (5-1), L - Kim Su-kyeong (5-9)

Doosan knocked around Heroes starter Kim Su-kyeong and got enough out of their pitching staff to earn a W. Doosan only gave up 3 runs, but needed 6 pitchers to record 27 outs. Lee Jae-woo tossed 5 innings(83 pitches, 49 strikes) of 2-run baseball. He gave up 4 hits and 3 walks while striking out 3. Heroes 3rd baseman and lead off hitter Hwang Jae-gyun essentially was the Heroes offense. Hwang finished the evening 4-5 with a homer, 2 RBIs and 2 runs scored. 2nd baseman Kim Jae-ho and catcher Choi Seung-hwan both drove in a pair of runs for the Bears.

SK 16, KIA 3
W - Lee Seung-ho (7-5), L - Son Yeong-min (4-2)

Wow. This is one uuuuugly box score. SK scored 13 of their 16 runs in over the last 3 innings. KIA starter Seo Jae-wong was chased from the game in the 4th inning and the KIA bullpen fell apart. In total KIA used 8 pitchers, allowed 15 hits, 8 walks and 3 hit batsmen. Yikes. Ugly stuff. SK DH Kim Jae-hyeon hit a grand slam during the 6th run 8th inning and pinch hitter Lee Ho-joon clubbed a 3-run "Efffff you" bomb in the 9th. 1st baseman Park Jeong-hwan and catcher Jeong Sang-ho also homered during this laffer. Everything wasn't all smiles for SK. 2nd baseman Jeong Geun-woo was one of the drilled SK hitters. He had to leave with a "sore" shoulder after a pitch bounced off of it. I really hope the Tigers can put this one out of their minds if these two teams meet again in the playoffs. I don't care who was pitching. A 13-run loss is still a 13-run loss.

Hanhwa 4, Lotte 2
W - Ahn Yeong-myeong (10-7), L - Jon Adkins (3-5), S - Koo Dae-seong (1)

I actually found myself cheering during this game. If Hanhwa won, Samsung would be 1 game up on Lotte. Not the biggest of deficits, but you have to start somewhere. Hanhwa starter Ahn Yeong-myeong pitched his guts outs. Ahn tossed 9 innings(114 pitches, 76 strikes) of 2-run ball. He allowed only 3 hits and 3 walks while striking out 6. Lotte held a slim 2-1 lead heading into the 8th inning. With one outs and the tying run on 2nd base, Hanhwa slugger Kim Tae-gyun ripped a single off the center field wall to tie the game at 2. On to extras the game went. In the 10th inning, Hanhwa loaded the bases with no outs. The first out of the inning came on a play at the plate. Hanhwa shortstop Park Ki-hyeok went home on a slow grounder to the left side. The runner was out by about 2 feet. The very next batter, 2nd baseman Lee Yeo-seong, dropped a base hit into left to score a pair. Hanhwa reliever Koo Dae-seong actually recorded a 1-2-3 bottom of the 10th. He even struck out 2 batters. Amazing.

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