KBO Roundup: Pitching wins games but scoring runs is a lot more fun

The beginning of the second week of the KBO season saw plenty of variety, ranging from a no-hitter taken into the sixth on Monday to a double-digit shellacking Tuesday — and many other results in between. Meanwhile, North American pitchers continue to grab the headlines while the offensive players from the other side of the Pacific have also been holding their own.

Speaking of whom, super slugger Dixon Machado failed to hit a home run over these past couple of days but is still providing steady production for the Lotte Giants, going 1-5 with a double and two RBIs on Monday in a loss to the Doosan Bears and then 1-3 with two RBIs, two walks and another double in the win on Tuesday.

Here are how some of the others fared.

May 12: Tigers slip past Eagles, Heroes brave Lions

Kia Tigers 2, Hanwha Eagles 1

Hanwha’s Kim Min-woo was the stud on Monday, taking a no-hitter into the sixth inning en route to a no-decision in his first start of the season. He threw seven innings of one-hit ball allowing no runs and three walks while striking out eight. Aaron Brooks started opposite him for Kia and also threw a quality outing, matching Kim’s seven innings allowing just one earned run on seven hits while striking out four; Brooks also did not figure in the final decision. The game was determined in the final four frames, with Brooks giving up the lone run for the Eagles while Tigers relievers Park Sang-won and Jung Woo-ram failed to hold the lead — the latter took the loss after giving up a sac fly in the top of the ninth to score former major leaguer Preston Tucker. Moon Kyung-chan earned his first save of the season with a two-strikeout outing.

Samsung Lions 2, Kiwoom Heroes 3

This game was another great pitcher’s duel, with Ben Lively toeing the rubber for Samsung while Eric Jokisch took the mound for Kiwoom. The Lions took an early lead on a leadoff two-base error off the bat of right fielder Kim Heon-gon, who came home on a single by the next batter; Samsung would not score again until one final runner crossed the plate in the ninth. The Heroes got on the board in the second on a solo home run by catcher Park Dong-won, but both teams put up goose eggs the next three frames before Kiwoom tacked on one run in both the sixth and seventh innings to take the lead for good. Jokisch ended up getting the win thanks to his six innings pitched, giving up just an unearned run on three hits while striking out seven. Lively got saddled with the loss after throwing six innings, giving up two earned runs on four hits, a walk and two hit batters while striking out four. Closer Jo Sang-woo picked up his fourth save of the year despite a shaky final frame in which he gave up an unearned run on two hits, striking out one to seal the deal.

Other results:

KT Wiz 6, NC Dinos 7

W: Won Jong-hyun; L: Ryu Hee-woon

SK Wyverns 5, LG Twins 9

W: Cha Woo-chan; L: Nick Kingham

Doosan Bears 11, Lotte Giants 6

W: Raúl Alcántara; L: Jang Won-sam

May 13: Lions shut out Heroes, Tigers bat Eagles

Samsung Lions 5, Kiwoom Heroes 0

Samsung got an even better performance out of David Buchanan on Tuesday against Kiwoom, one-upping Lively’s output the day prior with a seven-inning effort in which he did not allow a run to score on just two hits while striking out eight. The Heroes, who got a modest start from 23-year-old right-hander Choi Won-tae, never had a chance in this game. He went 7⅓ innings giving up four runs — two earned — on four hits while striking out six throwing just 89 pitches. Kiwoom’s two errors made his statline look worse than it actually was, but Choi was simply not at the same level that Buchanan was on this day. The Lions’ offense was led by first baseman Lee Sung-gyu, who replaced Tyler Saladino at the beginning of the game, and went 2-4 with a home run, two runs scored and one RBI.

Kia Tigers 4, Hanwha Eagles 3

Neither starter was particularly sharp in this match, with Kia’s Lee Min-woo lasting only five innings after giving up three earned runs on eight hits and a walk, striking out just three, while Hanwha’s Jang Shi-hwan labored through six innings, throwing 117 pitches while allowing four runs — three earned — on seven hits and six walks, though he also struck out seven. The story of this game was both teams’ bullpens, which shut each other out for the remainder of the day after the starters were removed, allowing just one hit apiece through the final frame; Kia’s Moon Kyung-chan got the save for the second day in a row. Tigers designated hitter Choi Hyung-woo led the way on offense, going 2-4 with a double, a walk and two runs scored.

Other results:

KT Wiz 4, NC Dinos 5

W: Im Chang-min; L: Lee Dae-eun

Doosan Bears 9, Lotte Giants 10

W: Kim Won-joong; L: Lee Hyung-bum

SK Wyverns 2, LG Twins 14

W: Lim Chan-gyu; L: Ricardo Pinto

Coming up:

Thursday, May 14

Kia Tigers vs. Hanwha Eagles (5:30 a.m. ET)

KT Wiz vs. NC Dinos (5:30 a.m. ET)

Doosan Bears vs. Lotte Giants (5:30 a.m. ET)

SK Wyverns vs. LG Twins (5:30 a.m. ET)

Samsung Lions vs. Kiwoom Heroes (5:30 a.m. ET)

Friday, May 15

Lotte Giants vs. Hanwha Eagles (5:30 a.m. ET)

NC Dinos vs. SK Wyverns (5:30 a.m. ET)

Doosan Bears vs. Kia Tigers (5:30 a.m. ET)

Samsung Lions vs. KT Wiz (5:30 a.m. ET)

Kiwoom Heroes vs. LG Twins (5:30 a.m. ET)

You can watch all of the games live or on delay using the Twitch app. Click here for a the link to the channel.