4/9 Roundup and News

Sounds like trouble's brewing with LG. It sounds like their manager is an idiot. Demoting the team leader/ace after one start is not a good way to motivate the other players. I'm really regretting that 4th place prediction right now.

Doosan 7, LG 7
Doosan HR - None LG HR - Lee Bong-gyu (2)

The first tie of the 2010 season came early this year. Doosan pitcher Les Walrond probably isn't going to finish the month in Korea. Walrond was yanked after 1 1/3 innings of work. He gave up 4 runs(3 earned) on 2 hits, 1 walk and 1 hit batsman. Doosan was facing a 5-2 deficit in the bottom of the 6th when the Bears mounted a rally. Doosan loaded the bases with one out. Shortstop Son Si-yeon drove in the first run of the inning with a sac fly to left. The next batter, center fielder Lee Jong-wook, singled to plate another run and stole second during the next at bat. Then, 2nd baseman Oh Jae-won ripped a single into left to drive in a pair and give Doosan a 6-5 advantage. LG battled back in the top of the 7th. With runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out, Lee Jin-yeong hit a grounder to short. Doosan shortstop Son Si-yeon came home with the ball and the throw was off the mark. It bounced off the runners' helmet and rolled to the wall. Both runners would score on the play and LG would take a 7-6 lead. Doosan tied the game in the bottom of the 7th on an RBI ground out from right fielder Yoo Jae-wong. The two teams would trade zeroes for the next 5 innings. Doosan reliever Goh Chang-seong set down all ten men he faced in order during his 3 1/3 innings of relief.

SK 4, Nexen 1
W - Ken Kadokura (3-0), L - Adrian Burnside (1-2), S - Lee Seung-ho (4)
SK HR - None Nexen HR - None

Ken Kadokura was awesome during his 6 1/3 shutout innings(111 pitches, 70 strikes) of work. Kadokura gave up only 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 10. SK rallied for a pair of runs in the 2nd inning and Kadokura was able to make the W look easy. SK center fielder Kim Kang-min finished the game 3-4 with a stolen base, 1 RBI and 2 runs scored. SK ran Nexen off the field with 5 stolen bases. 4 of the steals came during the second inning rally. Nexen starter Adrian Burnside was the tough luck loser. The Australian national tossed 6 innings(107 pitches, 68 strikes) of 2-run baseball. He gave up 8 hits while striking out 6.

Samsung 6, KIA 5 (12)
W - Ahn Ji-man (2-0), L - Cha Jeong-min (0-1)
Samsung HR - Park Seok-min (2) KIA HR - Kim Sang-hyeon (3)

Samsung starter Brandon Knight was awful. Knight gave up 5 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks during his 4 2/3 innings of work. Facing an early 5-0 deficit, Samsung rallied in the bottom of the fifth. Jin Kab-yong hit an RBI double to put Samsung on the board. Then, Lee Yeong-wook hit an "infield single"(it was a slow dribbler that pitcher fielded) to put runners on 1st and 3rd with one out. Both right fielder Kang Bong-gyu, third baseman Park Seok-min and left fielder Choi Hyeong-woo kept the line moving with RBI singles to make the score 5-4. Samsung would tie the game at 5 in the7th inning with a solo homer from Park. With the score tied at 5, nothing really happened until the bottom of the 12th. Park Seok-min lead off the inning with a walk and Heo Seung-min was brought in to pinch run. 1st baseman Chae Tae-in singled to right to put runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs. Backup shortstop Son Ju-in hit a double play ball to short. Chae was forced at second, but delivered a strong takeout slide that made 2nd baseman Ahn Chi-hong throw wildly. The ball got away from 1st baseman Choi Hee-seop and Heo was able to score on the error. Samsung wins.

Hanhwa 15, Lotte 14 (12)
W - Ma Il-yeong (1-1), L - Kim Sa-yul (0-1)
Hanhwa HR - Jeong Won-seok (1), Kim Tae-wan 2 (3) Lotte HR - Hong Seong-heun (4), Karim Garcia (2)

This was a wild ballgame. I actually turned it off when Lotte was up 7-3 in the 4th inning, only to turn the game back on when I got home around 11:15 and watch for 45 minutes. The two teams combined for 29 runs on 51 hits and 10 walks. Only two of the 13 pitchers used DIDN'T give up runs. Karim Garcia went 7-7 with a homer, 6 RBIs, 3 runs scored and 2 stolen bases(!). The two teams had rallies of four, five and six runs. There was a lot of effing offense in this game. Hanhwa rallied back from an 11-3 deficit and took a 14-12 lead after a 6-run rally in the 8th inning. Hanhwa took the lead on a 2-run off-the-wall double from infielder Lee Yeo-sang. Lotte rallied back in the bottom of the 8th. With runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs, Karim Garcia singled to right to drive in a run and make the score 14-13. With runners on 1st and 3rd, Lotte executed a double steal and tied the game when pinch runner Hwang Seong-yong scampered across the plate. The two teams took a breather from scoring and traded zeroes for the next 3 1/2 innings. Hanhwa broke the tie in the top of the 12th on an RBI single from Lee Yeo-sang. Hanhwa reliever Ma Il-yeong put runners on 1st and 2nd with two outs in the bottom of the 12th, but was able to get Lotte catcher Kang Min-ho to ground out to 2nd. Ma tossed 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief and was clearly out of gas by the end. Ma gave up 4 hits and 1 walk while striking out 2.