3/30 Roundup and News

SK 3, LG 0
W - Song Eun-beom (1-0), L - Bong Jung-geun (0-1), S - Lee Seung-ho (3)
SK HR - None LG HR - None

SK improved to 3-0 and they hardly broke a sweat in this game. LG barely threatened and SK starter Song Eun-beom cruised through 6 innings(84 pitches, 58 strikes) of scoreless baseball. Song allowed 4 hits while striking out 4. SK rallied for 3 runs in the 3rd and that was all the offense they would need or get. DH Park Jae-hong started the scoring with an RBI sac fly and catcher Park Kyeong-won added a 2-RBI single. LG ace Bong Jung-geun tossed 5 2/3 innings(97 pitches 59, strikes) and gave up 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 3. Lee Seung-ho nailed down his third save in as many games.

Doosan 7, Nexen 2
W - Kim Sun-woo(1-0), L - Adrian Burnside (0-1)
Doosan HR - Yang Eui-ji (2), Kim Dong-ju(1) Nexen HR - Song Ji-man (1)

Well, Nexen wasn't going to stay undefeated forever. It's a little said they couldn't steal this game from the Doosan buzz saw, but I think I'll get over it in about thirty seconds. Doosan starter Kim Sun-woo looked like the staff ace that everyone hoped he would be. Kim tossed 6 innings(83 pitches, 54 strikes) of 1-run(0 earned) baseball. He gave up 3 hits and 1 walk while striking out 7. Where was this guy last year? Or the year before that? Adrian Burnside looked like a man who wished he was back in Australia when he left this game in the 5th inning. Burnside was battered for 5 runs on 5 hits, 2 walks and 3(!) hit batsmen during his 4 2/3 innings(90 pitches, 52 strikes) of work. Somehow, the Australian national struck out 3. Doosan left fielder Kim Hyeon-su had an off night. He only went 1-4 with a walk and a run scored. Doosan's backup catcher, Yang Eui-ji sole the show. Yang belted a 2-run homer in the 2nd inning off Burnside and tagged reliever Kim Sang-su with a solo shot in the 6th.

Hanhwa 13, 해운대 Giants 3
W - Ryu Hyeon-jin (1-0), L - Song Seung-joon (0-1)
Hanhwa HR - Choi Jin Haeng (1), Lee Dae-su (1) 해운대 HR - Hong Seung-hoon (1)

The reports of Jerry Royster's demise are exaggerated, but not by much. I'm not going to lie. Simon came up with the "해운대" joke and I totally stole it. 해운대 was about a disaster in 2009. This Giants team has been a disaster in 2010. Losing by 10 runs to the 2010 Hanhwa Eagles is a sign that it's okay to press the panic button. In addition to throwing batting practice to the Eagles, the Giants made 4(!) errors in the field and barely mounted any offense. The tallest midget award goes to Giants DH Hong Seung-hoon. Hong hit a 3-run homer in the 4th inning that accounted for all of the Giants offense. He finished the game 2-4. Hanhwa ace Ryu Hyeon-jin tossed 7 innings(116 pitches, 73 strikes) of 3-run baseball. He surrendered 6 hits and 2 walks while striking out 6. At the plate for the Eagles, left fielder Choi Jin-haeng had a solid night. Choi finished 2-5 with a double, a homer, 3 RBIs and 1 run scored. He started the scoring for Hanhwa in the first inning with a two-run bomb to center field. The lowest of the lowlights came in the 7th inning. With Hanhwa up 7-3 and shortstop Lee Dae-su at the plate, Royster pulled punching bag/relief pitcher Bae Jang-ho for Ha Joon-ho. Ha threw a wild pitch about 6 ft. over the catcher's head to plate a run. Then, on the very next pitch, Ha gave up a 2-run homer. Lee finished the game 2-5 with 4 RBIs and 1 run scored. Outfield Choo Seung-woo ended the night 2-5 with 3 RBIs and 1 run scored. Enjoy it, Hanhwa fans. There won't be too many of these this year.

Samsung 6, KIA 1
W - Francisco Cruceta (1-0), L - Yang Hyeon-jong (0-1)
Samsung HR - None KIA HR - None

If you turned this game off after the 3rd inning, you would have thought Yang Hyeong-jong would toss a shutout. He looked awfully dominant his first turn through the Lions batting order. In the 4th inning, Yang ran into trouble. With KIA holding a 1-0 lead, Yang allowed a lead off double to Samsung right fielder Choi Hyeong-woo. Yang then walked DH Jin Kab-yong and 1st baseman Chae Tae-in to load the bases with no outs. Samsung 2nd baseman Shin Myeong-cheol singled to right to tie the game at one and keep the bases loaded with no outs. Yang walked Samsung catcher Hyeon Jae-yoon to give Samsung a 2-1 advantage. Samsung shortstop Park Jin-man singled to center to plate two more runs. Still with no outs in the inning. Center fielder Lee Yeong-wook grounded out to Yang for the first out of the inning, but another run scored on the play and Samsung took a 5-1 lead. With 2 outs in the inning and Yang still pitching, 3rd baseman Park Seok-min singled to center and drove in what would be the 6th and final run of the rally. This inning took almost forty-five minutes to complete. After looking shaky in the early innings, Francisco Cruceta managed to gut out a W. The Dominican national tossed 5 innings(102 pitches, 53 strikes) of 1-run ball. He allowed 4 hits, 5 walks and 1 hit batsman while striking out 7. He was, erm, effectively wild.