Tuesday KBO Game Highlights (2014/05/13)

May
13

Doosan 9 - SK 6, Incheon [Box Score] [Video Highlights]

It looks like having the weekend off didn't help the Wyvern's break out of their slide.  Good news for them, though, is that Luke Scott is back in action and he had a decent day at the plate, going 2-5 with 2 doubles, knocking in 1 run. Pitcher Ross Wolf came in out of the bullpen for SK and didn't have a great go of it, give up 3 hits and a run in just 1 ⅓ innings pitched in addition to commiting an error. Jorge Cantu had a decent game for Doosan, going 2-5 with 2 RBIs and a run scored. Doosan's Yun Myeong-Jun picked up his 4th win even though he gave up 2 runs on 3 hits in 1 ⅓. And finally, the most recent Wyvern's pitcher to get hit with a line drive is Jeon Yoo-Soo, who took a line drive directly into the pitching elbow. He was taken out of the game, but he didn't appear to be seriously hurt.

Jeon Yoo-Soo gets cranked in the not so funny bone

Lotte 0 - LG 5, Seoul (Jamsil) [Box Score] [Video Highlights]

Everett Teaford picked up his second win of the season, with a strong 6 innings pitched, allowing no runs on 3 hits and 3 walks while striking out 4. Lotte's Chris Oxspring also had a good start, but got pinned with the loss after throwing 7 solid innings, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks. Luis Jimenez went 0-4 with walk for the Eagles, while LG's Josh Bell was 2-3 with a sacrifice fly for 2 RBIs. 

KIA 5 - NC 6, Masan [Box Score] [Video Highlights]

NC's Thad Weber had a solid outing today, going 7 innings and giving up 2 runs on just 3 hits and a walk for no decision. Brett Pill went went 1-3 with a walk, with his hit being a 3 run homerun in the top of the 8th. That's his 8th long ball on the year, and coincidentally, NC's Lee Ho-Jun hit his 8th shot in the same game. The Dino's Eric Thames went a respectable 1-3 at the plate today with a walk and a run scored. The game was tied in the bottom of the 9th when KIA's Shim Dong-Seop totally blew it, committing 2 errors, walking 2 before Lee Ho-Jun hit a walk-off single. NC's Son Min-Han picked up the win, pitching just ⅔ of an inning 2 up and 2 down.

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Saturday KBO Game Highlights (2014/05/10)

May
11

Samsung 2 - Doosan 17, Seoul (Jamsil) [Box Score] [Video Highlights]

Samsung finally lost a game, and in dramatic fashion, with Doosan's Dustin Nippert shutting them down, pitching a complete game - the first of the season. Nippert threw 114 pitches, giving up 2 runs on just 5 hits and 1 walk, while striking out 4. Doosan's Jorge Cantu went 1-3 with a walk, getting 2 RBI and scoring 1 run. Samsung's starter, JD Martin, didn't do as well, giving up 8 runs on 5 hits and 3 walks. Finally, the Lion's Yamaico Navarro took a rest day and had to watch his team get smacked around from the dugout. Also, while not exactly related to the game, there was a nice interview with Jorge Cantu's wife, take a look below.

Jorge Cantu's wife being interviewed

Lotte 2 - NC 4, Masan [Box Score] [Video Highlights]

Lotte's Luis Jimenez had a productive day, going 3-5 and scoring a run, but his teammates weren't there to back him up so there wasn't any run production. NC got started with a 2 RBI triple from lead-off man Park Min-Woo in the 4th and never looked back. Coffee and Waffles wasn't firing on all cylinders and ended up 0-3 with a base on balls for the day. The Dino's Lee Jae-Hak got his 4th win despite some control issues on 5 innings pitched, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits and 7 walks.

LG 4 - Nexen 2, Seoul (Mokdong) [Box Score] [Video Highlights]

The Twins picked up a rare win, showing that you never know what will happen in a baseball game. Nexen's Andy Van Hekken ended up with the loss, even though he had a decent outing, giving up 2 earned runs in 6 innings pitched, 9 hits, 1 walk and 6 strikeouts. Granted, a Van Hekken error allowed an unearned run, so he is really on the hook for 3 runs. The Hero's Vinny Rottino put in time both in left and behind the plate, but had very little luck actually at the plate, going 0-5. LG's Josh Bell was equally struggling, going 0-4 with a walk and an RBI and also commiting an error on the field. Twin's starter Woo Kyu-Min got the win, throwing 6 innings and giving up 2 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks.

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Thursday KBO Game Highlights (2014/05/08)

May
08

Hanhwa 6 - LG 2, Seoul (Jamsil) [Box Score] [Video Highlights]

Hanhwa took 2-3 games this series (and should have swept if it wasn't for an overpaid stiff making a mistake that would get you cut from a t-ball team), and their pitching is actually looking kind of promising.  Then again it might just be LGs weak hitting that makes them look good. Hanhwa's Felix Pie had a slow day at the plate, going 0-2 with a walk and a sac fly for an RBI. Josh Bell, on the other hand, accounted for all of the Twins' offense today, going 1-3 with a sac fly and knocking in both of LG's runs. Hanhwa's Song Chang-Hyun earned his first win today, throwing 7 solid innings, giving up 2 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks.

NC 3 - Nexen 4, Seoul (Mokdong) [Box Score] [Video Highlights]

NC's Eric Hacker started out rough, giving up back to back homeruns in the 1st, but settled down pitch for 7 innings, allowing 3 runs with 5 hits, 5 walks and 5 strikeouts, ending up with no decision. Notably, one of those 1st inning homeruns came off the bat of Park Byung-Ho, who has a league dominating 12 homeruns. Homeplate.kr favorite Coffee and Waffles got 1 hit in 3 at bats, a double, walked once and scored a run. Vinny Rottino has been a bit slow at the plate the past few games, and today was no different, going 0-3 with a couple of walks. The game was tied going into the bottom of the 9th when Nexen's Lee Taek-Keun hit a walk off sacrifice fly to end it. Nexen's closer, Son Seung-Lak, got the W on 1 inning pitched, 3 up and 3 down.

Samsung 5, SK 0, Incheon [Box Score] [Video Highlights]

This 3 game sweep gives Samsung a 5 game winning streak and a record of 8-2 over the past 10 games. On the other hand, SK has lost 3 in a row and are 2-8 over the same period. Rick Vandenhurk had a fantastic start, pitching 7 innings and giving up 3 hits and 1 walk while striking out 9. Yamaico Navarro had a less stellar game, though, going 0-3 with a couple of walks and scoring a run. 

Doosan 15 - Lotte 6, Busan [Box Score] [Video Highlights]

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Tuesday KBO Game Highlights (2014/05/06)

May
06

Samsung 8 - SK 4, Incheon [Box Score] [Video Highlights]

Samsung is continuing their hot streak while SK is dropping like a rock. The Lion's Yamaico Navarro had a good game, going 3-4 with a walk, picking up 2 RBIs and scoring 2 runs. The game was actually quite a bit closer than the score suggests, with the Wyvern's actually tying it up at 4 in the 6th before losing it.  SK's Jo-Jo Reyes got the loss, putting his record at an uninspiring 1-3. He threw for 6 ⅓ innings, giving up 5 runs off 12 hits and no walks. Samsung reliever Cha Woo-Chan got his first win in a solid 2 ⅔ innings pitched, allowing no one to reach base.

Hanhwa 4 - LG 5, Seoul (Jamsil) [Box Score] [Video Highlights]

Earlier today I complained that Andrew Albers was overpaid and underperforming, of course he came out with a solid start today. He pitched 6 solid innings, giving up 1 run on 7 hits and no walks for no decision.  The game should have been his, but the most overpaid player in the league, Hanhwa first-baseman Kim Tae-Kyun made an inexplicable fielding decision which likely cost Hanhwa the game. He fielded an easy grounder at first, and rather than tag the bag decided to throw to third which resulted in a lot of confusion in the announcers booth and no outs. There was a pretty great run scored by Felix Pie (2-4 2 RBIs, 1 run scored), though, that made up for it. LG first-baseman Lee Byeong-Kyu botched a pick off throw from Everett Teaford which allowed Pie to make it home from first, with an exciting play at the plate to boot.  Teaford himself didn't have a bad day at the mound, giving up 2 earned runs in 5 ⅓ innings, off 6 hits and 3 walks, also for no decision. The Twins' Josh Bell went 2-5 at the plate, and made a great catch in the 3rd that led to a double play. LG's Yoo Won-Sang got his 3rd win on 1 ⅓ innings pitched, 4 up and 4 down.

Felix Pie scores from first on an error

NC 6 - Nexen 3, Seoul (Mokdong) [Box Score] [Video Highlights]

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Weekly Wrap Up 2014/05/06

May
06

Yes, I did take last week off from putting together a weekly wrap up, but I'm not apologizing for it. I am merely an unpaid intern here at HOMEPLATE.KoRp and can only do so much. The least they could do is give me some comprehensive medical and dental, but no, I get nothing. To be fair, it is giving me a leg up on the competition for breaking into the highly lucrative business of English language sportswriting about Korean baseball. As for why this week's wrap-up is coming out on Tuesday, there is a perfectly rational explanation. Monday is the usual off day for the KBO, so I typically will do the wrap-up on Sunday or Monday, but this week Monday was a national holiday and the off day was moved to Friday. Because of that, I just kind of assumed that the week ended at the end of the weekend series, which included Monday's game. 

More seriously, the past two weeks have seen some solidifying of the rankings with little change overall, excepting the total self-destruction of the SK Wyverns. SK has dropped from leader of the pack to being solidly in 6th place by only winning 4 of their past 13 games. The only other game that is playing under .500 over their past 10 games are the LG Twins, so things aren't looking good for the Wyverns. Due to a scheduling quirk and a rain-out, Hanhwa has only played 2 games in the past 11 days, which either leaves them very well rested or out of practice. The Samsung Lions are making a charge for the top, winning 8 of 10 and climbing up to 3rd place.

SK has been suffering some serious hardships, such as pitcher Yoon Hi-Sang sending out a public service message to all young players telling them they need to wear protection, no matter how cool they think they are.  Yes, that means you shouldn't watch the following video unless you enjoy watching a dude take a line drive to his grundle sack.

Remember, Kids, Wear a Cup

In hitting news, Nexen's Park Byung-Ho has been busy, cranking out 2 long balls yesterday and 4 in his last 4 games to take the league lead at 10. Both Jorge Cantu and Josh Bell are still sitting at 8, so need to up their production if they want to win the homerun crown. Luis Jimenez, who was out for the first few weeks of the season has 6, so as the season progresses he is probably someone to watch. He also happens to have the second highest batting average in the league, at .395, which is miles ahead of SK's Lee Jae-Won who is batting an unbelievable .463. 

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Saturday KBO Game Highlights (2014/05/03)

May
04

Nexen 3 - KIA 2, Gwangju [Box Score] [Video Highlights]

Even low scoring games aren't exactly pitching duels in the KBO, as seen here where KIA logged 10 hits and Nexen 7 even though the score was a relatively tame 3-2. KIA starter DJ Houlton got saddled with the loss, giving up 3 runs over 7 ⅔ innings on 5 hits and 6 walks. KIA's Brett Pill sat out most of the game, coming in as a pinch hitter in the 6th and staying on to play a few innings at first-base. He went 0-2 in his two plate appearances. Nexen's Vinny Rottino went 1-3 with a walk and was stationed in his usual left-field position. Heroe's starter Keum Min-Cheol got the win, throwing for 5 ⅓ innings, allowing 2 runs on 7 hits and 4 walks. 

Doosan 8 - LG 3, Seoul (Jamsil) [Box Score] [Video Highlights] 

LG was leading this on with a score of 1-0 going into the 7th inning. The Bears lit up the scoreboard in the 7th, though, with 6 runs coming off 5 hits, two of which were triples and one a Jorge Cantu (1-3, 2 RBI, HBP) homerun. For those counting at home, that's Cantu's 8th, tying him with Josh Bell for the league lead. Speaking of the Golden Bell, he had a lackluster performance at the plate, going 0-4 with a base on balls. Doosan's Yu Heui-Kwan was yet again dominant on the mound, earning his 4th win, giving up 1 run on 3 hits and 5 walks over 7 complete innings.

NC 6 - Samsung 1, Daegu [Box Score] [Video Highlights]

NC's Eric Hacker had a good start today, giving up only a single run in 6 ⅔ innings. He allowed 5 hits and 3 walks while striking out 6 to earn the win. The single run he gave up happened to be scored by Samsung's Yamaico Navarro, who was on base after being hit by a pitch. Navarro went 0-4 on the day along with that aforementioned HBP. The Dino's Eric Thames had a slow day at the plate himself, going 1-5 with a stolen base. 

Hacker Interview

Lotte 6 - SK 5, Incheon [Box Score] [Video Highlights]

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Thursday KBO Game Highlights (2014/05/01)

May
01

LG 5 - NC 10, Masan [Box Score] [Video Highlights]

LG came out hot, with a 1st inning 3 run homerun by DH Lee Byung-Kyu but just couldn't keep up the momentum and NC went to work, putting up all 10 of their runs by the 5th inning. Josh Bell went 1-2 with a couple of walks and a run scored, and Coffee and Waffles had an uneventful day at the plate going 0-3 with an RBI sac-fly. The Dino's Thad Weber nabbed his 3rd win even though he had a rocky start, throwing 5 innings and giving up 4 earned runs on 5 hits and 3 walks. 

Lotte 0 - Hanhwa 3, Daejeon [Box Score] [Video Highlights]

No need to get your vision checked, Hanhwa really did manage to shut down Lotte tonight. Giant's starter Chris Oxspring ended up with the loss even though he had a fairly solid game, striking out 7 and giving up 3 runs over 6 ⅔ innings on 6 hits and 3 walks. Luis Jimenez went 1-4 with a walk for Lotte, and Hanhwa's Felix Pie went 0-3 with a walk, but managed to get an RBI which extends his RBI streak to 7 games. Eagle's start Yu Chang-Sik had a solid start, pitching 5 innings allowing 4 hits and walking 6.

SK 2 - KIA 20, Gwangju [Box Score] [Video Highlights]

KIA was on fire tonight. Quite literally, actually, because there was a small fire in the stadium tonight. Actually, the score is misleading as KIA only earned 8 of the runs tonight, but the Wyvern's 8 errors, 4 of which made at the position of shortstop, 3 of those from the glove of Kim Seong-Hyeon. Looks like we have some competition for the Henry Skrimshander incompetent shortstop award. SK's Luke Scott is still sitting out, and KIA's Brett Pill went 1-7 (yes, 7) with 2 RBIs, and he reached base on an error so ended up scoring 2 runs. Jo-Jo Reyes started for SK and gave up 6 earned runs over 4 innings on 8 hits and 5 walks to pick up the loss, and KIA's Yang Hyeon-Jong pitched 7 strong innings allowing 2 runs on 8 hits and 1 walk for the win.

Fire at Champion's Field

 

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Tuesday KBO Game Highlights (2014/04/29)

Apr
29

Nexen 5 - Doosan 2, Seoul (Jamsil) [Box Score] [Video Highlights]

Nexen starter, Angry Man Brandon Knight (I probably won't ever run into him on the subway) had a less than ideal start, only lasting 4 ⅓ innings and giving up 2 runs on 6 hits and 6 walks but got out of the game with no decision because Nexen's bats were firing. For Doosan, Chris Volstad got pinned with the loss with 4 ⅔ innings pitched, giving up 5 runs on 10 hits and 2 walks. The real news here, though is that Vinny Rottino went 3-4 today with a walk, an RBI and a run scored. This is big news because Rottino now not only leads the league in batting average, but he also is now batting above .400. Doosan's Jorge Cantu didn't fare as well, going 1-5. Nexen's Cho Sang-Woo picked up his 3rd win, throwing 1 ⅔, allowing a walk and no hits.

SK 18 - KIA 5, Gwangju [Box Score] [Video Highlights]

The Wyverns scored 6 runs in the 2nd and then 11 in the 5th in this route. Granted, 4 of those 11 runs were unearned and scored because of an error by KIA's third-baseman Park Ki-Nam, but it was still a blowout. Luke Scott is still resting his wrist so didn't see any of the action, and KIA's Brett Pill went 0-5. SK catcher Chung Sang-Ho went 3-5 in tonight's game and racked up an improbable 7 RBIs. Wyern's starter Kim Kwang-Hyun got his 3rd win, pitching 6 innings and giving up 3 runs on 7 hits and a walk. 

LG 2 - NC 3, Masan [Box Score] [Video Highlights]

The Twins just can't catch any breaks, but reliever Lim Jeong-Woo is showing some promise. The game was already lost but he pitched a solid 5 ⅓ innings, giving up no runs and only 3 hits and 2 walks. Josh 'Golden' Bell went 1-5 with a double, and NC's Eric Thames did a bit better at the plate, going 1-3 with a walk, his only hit also being a double. The Dino's Lee Jae-Hak got his 3rd win, pitching a strong 7 ⅔ innings, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits and a walk.

Lotte - Hanhwa, Daejeon RAINED OUT

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Saturday KBO Game Highlights (2014/04/26)

Apr
27

Samsung 1 - Nexen 11, Seoul (Mokdong) [Box Score] [Video Highlights]

The Heroes showed KBO newcomer JD Martin what it is like to be a pitcher in the Korean league, by running up 7 runs in his 5 ⅓ innings pitched. Martin gave up 10 hits and 1 walk, with 3 of those hits being homeruns, 2 of which were off Kang Jung-Ho's bat. Nexen's Vinny Rottino got a piece of the pie, too, going 3-4 with an RBI and a run scored. For the Lions, Yamaico Navarro went 2-3 with both hits being doubles and a walk. Nexen's Keum Min-Cheol got the win, pitching 6 ⅓ solid innings, giving up 4 hits and 2 walks.

SK 4 - Lotte 5, Busan [Box Score] [Video Highlights]

SK had control of the game from the top of the first, but ended up blowing it in a bottom of the 9th, two out rally when Luis Jimenez hit a 2 RBI walk off single to end the game. Jimenez went 2-5 on the day with 2 RBIs and a run score. For SK, Luke Scott took a rest for the day, apparently he is recuperating a sore wrist. It was a foreign pitching battle, though, with Jo-Jo Reyes starting for the Wyverns and Chris Oxpring on the mound for Lotte. Reyes threw for 6 ⅓ giving up 7 hits and 3 walks that led to 3 earned runs. Oxpring pitched 6 innings and gave up 6 hits, 3 walks and 4 earned runs. Both pitchers ended the day with no decision. Chong Tae-Hyon got the win on 1 ⅓ innings pitched, 4 up and 4 down.

Doosan 6 - NC 2, Masan [Box Score] [Video Highlights]

NC's offense just never managed to get started and Doosan took advantage of this for the win. Eric Thames did all right at the plate, though, going 2-4 with a single and a double, knocking in 1 of his team's 2 runs. Jorge Cantu did a bit better, going 3-4 with a single, a double and a homerun, picking up an RBI and scoring twice. That's Cantu's 6th long ball of the year, tying him with Thames and putting them both a single bomb behind Josh Bell. Thad Weber didn't have a great start, going 5 innings and allowing 6 runs on 8 hits and 2 walks. Doosan's Yu Heui-Kwon remains one of the league's top starters, though, earning his 3rd win on 7 innings pitched, giving up 7 hits, a walk and 2 earned runs.

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Thursday KBO Game Highlights (2014/04/24)

Apr
24

Doosan 3 - Hanhwa 9, Daejeon [Box Score] [Video Highlights]

Hanhwa finally managed to put enough runs on the board to win a game despite their terrible bullpen and horrendous shortstops. Speaking of shortstops, Song Kwang-Min had his 9th error of the season (granted he was playing third-base at the time) and Han Sang-Hun committed his 2nd error of the season at short.  Song made up for it on offense by going 3-4 with a homerun and a base on balls, racking up 4 RBIs and 3 runs scored. Hanhwa's Felix Pie went 2-5 with an RBI and two runs scored, and Jorge Cantu went 0-2. Hanhwa starter Yu Chang-Sik is looking like the Eagle's ace, earning the win today with 7 complete innings pitched allowing 5 hits, 3 walks and no earned runs.

NC 13 - SK 7, Incheon [Box Score] [Video Highlights]

The Dinos showed the power of their bats today in a big win over the Wyverns. It was a close game at 8-7 NC going into the 8th when the Dinos scored five runs to put the game away.  Coffee and Waffles cranked one over the fence for his 6th long ball of the season and went 2-4 on the day with a sac-fly, notching 3 RBIs and scoring 2 runs and Luke Scott took the day off. NC middle reliever Son Jeong-Wook got the win on 2 ⅓ innings pitched, 2 hits, 1 walk and no earned runs.

Lotte 3 - Nexen 10, Seoul (Mokdong) [Box Score] [Video Highlights]

Nexen dominated out of the gate, and scored runs in 6 out of 8 innings. Lotte's Luis Jimenez had a decent day, going 2-4 with 2 walks but wasn't much help to his team. Vinny Rottino got the game winning RBI for the Heroes, going 3-5 with 2 RBIs and 2 runs scored. Nexen reliever Cho Sang-Woo got the win on 1 inning pitched, allowing a hit and a walk.

LG 8 - Samsung 9, Daegu [Box Score] [Video Highlights]

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