KBO Roundup: Saupold steals a win while Machado goes ice-cold

As we enter the tail-end of week three of the KBO’s 2020 season, excitement is still abound along with plenty of dingers and bat-flips — often at the same time!

However, it has not been all homers and bat-flips for former Detroit Tigers infielder Dixon Machado these past several days. Since hitting his last home run on Sunday in a 1-5 effort, he has only one hit — which came today — in his last 14 at-bats, with just one RBI, no walks and a hit-by-pitch to his credit. Coming into today’s game, his batting average sat at a dismal .224 though his OPS still a healthy .832. Hopefully Machado can find that magic he began the season with soon before his slump becomes more concerning.

May 21: Twins outlast Lions in pitcher’s duel

LG Twins 2, Samsung Lions 0

Boy oh boy was this a ever pitcher’s duel to behold. LG’s Lee Min-ho got the win in this one, holding Samsung scoreless over 5⅓ innings on just one hit, four walks and two strikeouts. His bullpen did the rest, shutting out the Lions the rest of the way, with reliever Lee Sang-gyu closing the door in the ninth for his first save of the season. On the opposite mound was Won Tae-in, who had a rough first inning in which he gave up a double then a two-run home run only to throw a gem the next six frames. Over seven total innings, Won gave up six hits and two walks while striking out six in the losing cause. After his best outing of the season on Thursday, he is now 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA and 1.56 WHIP. Twins right fielder Chae Eun-sung was the offensive star of the game, whose two-run dinger in a 1-4 effort represented the only runs scored in the game.

Other results:

Hanwha Eagles 9, KT Wiz 4

W: Kim Bum-soo; L: So Hyeong-jun

Lotte Giants 1, Kia Tigers 6

W: Im Ki-young; L: Park Se-woong

NC Dinos 12, Doosan Bears 6

W: Jang Hyun-shik; L: Lee Hyung-bum

SK Wyverns 8, Kiwoom Heroes 9

W: Jo Sang-woo; L: Kim Ju-on

May 22: Saupold snags second win of the season

Hanwha Eagles 5, NC Dinos 3

Warwick Saupold entered Friday sporting a 1.64 ERA along with a microscopic 0.82 WHIP over 22 innings, though he only had one win to show for was his opening day complete-game shutout. He managed to to limit the damage the Dinos inflicted on him just enough for the Eagles to swoop in and snatch the win. The Aussie hurler went six innings giving up three earned runs on six hits and three walks — which he had some choice words with the umpire about — as well as a solo home run off the bat of third baseman Park Suk-min while striking out four.

NC’s Kim Young-gyu did not fare quite as well, giving up five runs — three earned — in five innings off of six hits, a walk, three strikeouts and a whopping three dingers to take the loss. Both bullpens put up lockdown efforts once their respective starters were removed, with Hanwha’s staff holding NC hitless while striking out six in three innings while the Dinos allowed a pair of hits while striking out three over four frames. Eagles closer Jung Woo-ram got the save with a perfect three-strikeout inning on 12 pitches. Hanwha’s first baseman Kim Moon-ho led the way on offense with a 2-4 performance with two home runs and three RBIs.

Other results:

Kia Tigers 2, SK Wyverns 1

W: Yang Hyun-jong; L: Park Hee-soo; SV: Moon Kyung-chan

KT Wiz 5, LG Twins 6

W: Kim Dae-hyun; L: Lee Dae-eun

Doosan Bears 12, Samsung Lions 7

W: Lee Yong-chan; L: Kim Yoon-soo; SV: Ham Duk-joo

Kiwoom Heroes 7, Lotte Giants 9

W: Park Jin-hyung; L: Kim Jae-woong; SV: Kim Won-joong

BONUS:

Jamsil Arena in Seoul, South Korea, apparently has an ongoing cat problem. Or maybe “problem” is not the correct word, but for the past seven years there has been a series of cats making their way onto the field during play. Today, Jamsil cat made its 2020 debut on ESPN, making it likely the first trans-Pacific sports broadcast interrupted by an on-field animal. Expand the Twitter post below to see some of the past Jamsil cats and their hijinx.

Coming up:

Saturday, May 23

KT Wiz vs. LG Twins (1:00 a.m. ET)

Hanwha Eagles vs. NC Dinos (4:00 a.m. ET)

Kia Tigers vs. SK Wyverns (4:00 a.m. ET)

Doosan Bears vs. Samsung Lions (4:00 a.m. ET)

Kiwoom Heroes vs. Lotte Giants (4:00 a.m. ET)

Sunday, May 24

Hanwha Eagles vs. NC Dinos (1:00 a.m. ET)

Kia Tigers vs. SK Wyverns (1:00 a.m. ET)

KT Wiz vs. LG Twins (1:00 a.m. ET)

Doosan Bears vs. Samsung Lions (1:00 a.m. ET)

Kiwoom Heroes vs. Lotte Giants (1:00 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.