Not sure what was going on in Seoul tonight, but it sure made for some interesting photo-ops.
That would be Bong Jung-gun, who pitched a great game tonight, holding the Lotte Giants to just one run over eight innings of work. Bong’s inning total now stands at 106 1/3. He finished last season with 111 2/3. So with the sample sizes similar we can clearly see what a remarkable turnaround 2008 has been for him. He’s cut his ERA by over two, already matched his win total (6), and exceeded his strikeout total by 28. He’s also 10 walks under his total from last year. Nice to see him doing well. Hopefully he doesn’t beat his wife anymore.
Unfortunately for the Bongster he picked up a no-decision. The game was tied going into the 10th when the Giants added a run on an error on the thirdbaseman. Then Kang, who hails form Pohang for those interested, added an exclamation point with a 2-run shot to center, his second of the night and 13th of the year. Lotte won 4-1. Not sure what the ritual is here with Jerry Royster, but Kang made a similar face with several other guys on the Lotte bench. Nice chompers there Jerry.
Kenny Ray made his debut for SK tonight, throwing 5 innings and surrendering 2 ER on 6 hits. He picked up the win as SK demolished Samsung 12-2. Wes Obermueller was the starter for the Lions. His line: 4 2/3, 6 ER on 11 hits.
Jose Lima was the hard luck loser tonight as Kia went down 10-1 to Doosan. Lima only gave up 2 ER in 6 innings, but the bullpen gave up seven in the seventh frame. Lima is now 3-5 on the year. By the way, Felix Diaz was impressive last night, going 3 innings and giving up no runs on one hit. He’s now given up just 1 ER over 5 innings.
Last but not least Woori’s manager stated today that Shingo Takatsu wouldn’t make his debut until at least June 24. He cited Takatsu’s lack of work on the year as the reason.
2 responses so far ↓
1 baekgom84 // Jun 21, 2008 at 11:37 am
Bong is a gun this year. Should be a shoe-in for the all-star spot, unless the powers that be want to contrive a Ryu Hyun-jin/Kin Gwang-hyun showdown.
Ray looked good last night too, but it’s hard to judge him when he’s up against a very erratic Samsung team. It amuses me that Kenny Ray and Kenny RayBORN are playing on the same team. Maybe SK thought that since Rayborn has been quite successful, that particular arrangement of letters must be a good-luck charm.
And I only found out the other day that Brad Thomas who plays for Hanhwa is Australian. I always find it amazing that Aussies make it to relatively high levels in baseball, considering that it’s pretty much a nothing sport there, and 99% of kids who can throw a ball and wield a bat will take up cricket instead.
2 Shinsano // Jun 21, 2008 at 6:35 pm
You’re going to see a lot of Aussies in MLB soon enough. There are already a few. I think the Cubs have signed three or four just this year.
Australians have good body size and very basic baseball skills (from cricket). They have these baseball camps where kids who have hardly even played baseball go through drills with coaches and scouts. It’s legit.
Another attractive thing about Aussies is that the adjustment to playing/working in the U.S. isn’t that big as compared to kids from Asia or Latin America.
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