KBO Playoffs Round 2, Game 1

You know its October in Korea when the cheer babes use fireworks in their dance routines.

Doosan 3, SK 2
W - Geum Min-cheol, L - Gary Glover
Doosan has a 1-0 series lead

Goh Yeong-min wants to directly connect. Goh Yeong-min is directly connected.

This game was well-played, but it was a bit of a snooze until SK mounted a half-hearted comeback attempt in the late innings. Doosan jumped out to a 1-0 lead thanks to a solo homer from 2nd baseman Goh Yeong-min in the first inning. The Bears tacked on 2 more runs in the 2nd inning on a solo homer from DH Choi Joon-seok and an RBI infield single from right fielder Jeong Su-bin. With runners on 1st and 3rd with 2 outs, Jeong grounded the ball back to the pitcher. SK got the 2nd out and 2nd base, but Jeong juuuuuust beat the throw from 2nd to earn himself an RBI.

SK answered back in the bottom of the 2nd inning. The Doosan defense suffered not one, not two, but 3 mental lapses that helped SK score their first run. There was an errant throw from shortstop Son Si-heon. Then, 1st baseman Lee Won-seok fumbled a throw in the dirt. Finally, 3rd baseman Kim Dong-ju let a ball roll under his glove and into the outfield. I was surprised Kim made a play on it, he had to range fifteen feet to his left. He should have let Son Si-heon take it. Either way, wasn't really able to capitalize. They only run they pushed across came on a seeing-eye base hit from right fielder Park Jae-hong. both teams went 5 straight innings with out scoring before SK inched closer on a solo homer from 1st baseman Park Jeong-kwon.

Geum Min-cheol singlehandedly held back the advancing Wyverns horde.

Gary Glover pitched well, but the early homers put SK behind the 8-ball from the beginning. The Glove tossed 6 innings(104 pitches, 69 strikes) and allowed all 3 Doosan runs. Glover gave up 5 hits and 1 walk while striking out 6. Doosan starter Geum Min-cheol was quality. Geum tossed 5 innings(91 pitches, 50 strikes) of 1-run ball. He allowed 6 hits and 2 walks while striking out 3. The Doosan bullpen looked better than I thought it would. After Geum left the game, 5 relievers only allowed 3 baserunners for the rest of the game.

The next game is Thursday night at 6 PM local time. Ken Kadokura(8-4, 5.00 ERA, 1.54 WHIP, 98 K's in 126 innings) will get the nod for SK, while foreign punching bag Juan Cedeno(4-7, 5.70 ERA, 2.15 WHIP, 41 K's in 71 innings) takes the mound for Doosan. If Cedeno makes it out of the 3rd inning, I'll wear a Doosan hat for a week.