4/30 Roundup and News

Doosan 12, Nexen 5
W - Kelvin Jimenez (5-1), L - Adrian Burnside (1-4)
Doosan HR - Choi Joon-seok (3), Lee Won-seok (4), Lee Seong-yeol (4), Yoo Jae-wong (2), Son Si-hyeon (3) Nexen HR - None

The Bears scored a run in every inning last night. Nexen simply never had a chance. Starter Adrian Burnside was chased from the game in the 2nd inning and things went down hill from there. One of the few Bears that didn't have a huge game was left fielder Kim Hyeon-su. Kim went 0-3 with a walk and an RBI. Doosan right fielder Lee Seong-yeol went 4-5 with a double, a homer, 2 RBIs and 3 runs scored. Shortstop Son Si-hyeon continued his hot week with a 3-5 day. Son homered, scored 2 runs and drove in 1. Bears starter Kelvin Jimenez was able to cruise to an easy W. Jimenez tossed 6 innings(92 pitches, 53 strikes) of 2-run baseball. Kelvin allowed 3 hits and 3 walks while striking out 3.

SK 5, LG 4
W - Goh Hyo-joon (1-1), L - Park Myeong-hwan (2-1), S - Jeong Woo-ram (1)
SK HR - Park Kyeong-won (2) LG HR - Park Yong-taek (2)

I guess SK was tired of blowing their opponents out. They decided to see how close they could make this game without losing. LG tried to steal this game. Literally. The Twins stole bases in this game, but all their theivery didn't help them on the scoreboard. SK rallied to an early 5-2 lead and appeared to put the game on lockdown with their bullpen. In the 8th inning LG DH Park Yong-taek blasted a solo homer to make it 5-3. Then, in the 9th inning, the Twins mounted another rally. With runners on 1st and 2nd with two outs, the Twins executed a succesful double steal with Park Byeong-ho and Lee Dae-hyeong. Outfielder Lee Byeong-gyu drew a walk to load the bases. LG outfielder Lee Jin-yeong hit a ball back through the middle. SK 2nd baseman Jeong Geun-woo was able to get position, but the ball took a goofy hop and bounced off the heel of his glove. All the runners were safe and the SK lead was cut to 5-4. LG third baseman Jeong Seong-hoon struck out swinging to end the game. SK's winning streak rolled on to 13.

Samsung 10, Hanhwa 4
W - Francisco Cruceta (3-3-), L - Yoo Won-sang (2-1)
Samsung HR - Choi Hyeong-woo (4), Park Han-yi (5) Hanhwa HR - Choi Jin-haeng (5)

10-4 makes this game sound close. Hanhwa was losing by 9 runs as late as the 7th inning. Samsung starter Francisco Cruceta tossed 5 innings(97 pitches, 53 strikes) of shutout baseball. Cruceta gave up 3 hits and 5 walks while striking out 3. He was, erm, effectively wild. One surprise from this game was that Brandon Knight has been banished to the bullpen. He surrendered all 4 runs to Hanhwa in his 1 2/3 innings. He might have also earned a plane ticket home or chance to play with the Futures League team. Samsung RBI machine Choi Hyeong-woo continued to roll. Choi hit a 3-run homer in the 5th inning that juuuuuuust cleared the left field fence. Choi finished 3-6 with 4 RBIs and 3 runs scored. Samsung DH Yang Joon-hyeok went 3-5 with 3 RBIs. Hanhwa left fielder Choi Jin-haeng has been one of the few bright spots for the Eagles this season and last night was no different Choi went 1-3 with 3 RBIs, 2 runs scored, 2 walks and a stolen base.

KIA 8, Lotte 4
W - Kwak Jeong-cheol (1-2), L - Lee Jeong-hoon (1-3)
KIA HR - Kim Won-seob (2) Lotte - None

The Giants are probably wishing they have the Nexen Heroes stick around Busan a little longer. This game was tied at 4 heading into the 9th inning, but the Tigers mounted a rally off the embattled Lotte bullpen. With one out, third baseman Park Ki-nam singled up the middle. Shortstop Lee Hyeon-gon singled to left to put runners on 1st and 3rd. KIA centerfielder Lee Yong-gyu singled down the left field line to break the 4-4 tie. The next batter, Lee Jong-beom singled down the left field line to give KIA an insurance run and a 6-4 lead. KIA left fielder Kim Won-seob flied out to center, but the runner on 3rd was able to score and give KIA a 7-4 lead. KIA first baseman Choi Hee-seop was hit by a pitch to put runners on 1st and 2nd with two outs. DH Na Ji-won singled to center to score KIA's 4th and final run of the inning. Lotte needed three pitchers to record three outs. Two of them have the same name. Lotte has two relievers named Heo Jun-hyeok. Heo Jun-hyeok actually came in to relieve Heo Jun-hyeok during the 9th inning. One is a lefty and one is a righty. One is barely old enough to buy a beer and the other is in his mid-twenties. Confusing.