Last Tuesday was the first game in June for Kia. June 2nd it was. After a good month of May in which they went 16-11, (really 16-9-2 but for some reason ties count as losses for both teams in the KBO. I hate that), I am looking forward to June. The Tigers went from 6th to 3rd in May too. Can they climb up one more spot in June? Could they maybe even challenge for first? Who would they be challenging, the SK Wyverns or the Doosan Bears? These were the sort of questions dancing like sugarplums in my head while awaiting the first pitch on June 2nd. I was there with three of my physiotherapy students. That's just their major, it's not what I teach them. Yang Hyun Jong was pitching. He's been the 2nd best starting pitcher for the Tigers this year. 5 wins and 2 losses. Only Guttormson is better so far at 7 and 1. He pitched pretty well against the Doosan Bears who I think have the best hitting lineup in the league. When Yang left the score was tied at 3. Unfortunately he was only kept in for 5 innings. He had only pitched 98 pitches. I think the number 100 figures largely in Jo Bum Hyun's idea of how long he's gonna leave pitchers in this year. Strange since their rotation is 6 deep and they play 6 games a week. That means pitchers have a week to recover from 100 pitches. Shouldn't be playing ball if that's not long enough. Again, I wish Jo would leave the starters out longer because Kia's bullpen is not good. So on comes Son Young Min. I was worried. But on this night Son was pitching well. So well that Jo yanked him out after the 8th. Doosan got 6 runs in the 9th inning off Im Joon Hyuk. I like Im Joon Hyuk and don't like Son Young Min but even I was wondering why the change was made on this night. Lee Jong Beom, Lee Hyun Gon and this year's MVP candidate Kim Sang Hyun all had 2 hits for the Tigers in a losing cause. Final score 9-3 Doosan.
This was us all hopeful and hungry before the game.
On Wednesday June 3rd Lopez pitched 7 2/3innings, (118 pitches), giving up 6 hits and 2 runs. A solid outing. He's surprising me this year with his durability. And I was also surprised that Jo left him in past his usual yanking time, the start of the 7th inning. The guy who looks as though he'll be replacing Yoon as the closer, Yoo Dong Hoon, pitched 1 1/3 and got the save. Kim Weon Seop, Lee Jae Joo and Na Ji Weon all got two hits but it was the old man of baseball Lee Jong Beom who made the difference with 2 RBI's. Final score was 5-2 Kia.
I went to the rubber match of the Doosan series excited to see Yoon Suk Min back as a starter. He didn't pitch his best giving up 9 hits and 4 runs in 6 innings. But he got 10 strike outs. He had a 4-3 lead but gave up a run in the 6th. So the game was tied at 4 when Son Young Min came in. A hit a walk and a run made it 5-4 Doosan and that's all she wrote. Another hard luck outing for Yoon. And another bad game for Son. Lee Jong Beom had another solid game going 2/3 with an RBI. An Chi Hong and Kim Sang Hyun had homers. Final score 5-4 Doosan.
Here's Yoon leaning into one. What a pitcher! What a picture!
Samsung came to Gwangju on Friday. They were a welcome sight after the Doosan Bears, Kia's Nemesis this season. Samsung is right behind Kia in 4th place so the Tigers were looking to put some distance between them and maybe sneak up on SK or Doosan. Kwag Jung Cheol pitched the first game of the series. He's 4-1 this year but has had some bad outings. This was NOT one of them. He pitched 7 innings giving up 4 hits and 0 runs. Yanked after only 100 pitches. No idea why. Park Kyung Tae came in for two batters. Got them both. Then Han Ki Joo also came in for two batters. He gave up a home run and a walk. Luckily in that order. He's been terrible this year. But Yoo Dong Hoon closed things down for another save. Lee Jong Beom and Choi Hee Seop both had 2 hits. And Lee Jong Beom stole his 500th base. He's had a phenomenal career! Final score was 3-1 Kia.
I went to game two of the series on Saturday. It was a special day to remember soldiers who died. Possibly Memorial Day. I couldn't get a difinitive translation. Anyway there were no female cheerleaders at the game for that reason. Kim Joo Il, the male MC was still there though. He's a friend of mine so I sat right at the cheerleader stage to chat with him. I ended up talking mostly with Rick Guttormson's brother and another guy named Phillip. I'm not going to sit there again though. It's just too noisy. The game was pretty good. Guttormson was cruising along having given up only 2 hits in the first. But after 101 pitches coach Jo decided to give the Samsung Lions a chance I suppose. Why else do you pull a guy after 6 innings of 2-hit ball including 5 straight innings with NO hits?!?! Out comes Son Young Min and I told Guttormson's brother that he might mess up a great night of work for Rick. He faces 5 guys and gives up 3 hits and a run. It's now 2-1. But Yoo Dong Hoon closed things down for another save. WHEW! Lee Hyun Gon got 2 hits and Mr. Clutch Kim Sang Hyun got the 2 RBI's for the Tigers with a first inning hit. Final score 2-1 Kia.
This is Kim Sang Hyun, my vote for Kia MVP so far. He was talking to Kim Joo Il the Tigers MC.
Sunday's game was a beauty for the team! First they were going for the sweep against the club that's right behind them in the standings; second they had their number two pitcher Yang Hyun Jong on the mound for them; and third this game ended with a dramatic walk-off hit and ensuing pile-up of players that is just what the doctor ordered for team and fan unity. Yang was solid. He went 7 innings giving up 6 hits and only one run on a homer to Samsung's Park Suk Min. He left with a 2-1 lead that held up till the 9th when Han Ki Joo gave up the tying run. He didn't have a bad night but he just always seems to do enough to lose. So the game went all the way to the 12th inning. The last in Korea. If nobody wins it's a tie, which is really a loss for both clubs. Jung Sung Cheol faced 3 guys giving up 2 walks and one hit. The score was 3-2 Samsung. Last bats for the Tigers. Kim Jong Gook got the winning RBI's.
Kim Jong Gook is somewhere at the bottom of this pile. It was a great week for the Tigers and their fans!
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