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The Korean Baseball Organization continues to roll along as the only show in town right now for baseball fans as they await the decision of Major League Baseball’s owners and players’ union on how — as well as if — the boys of summer will take to the field this season. By now, most viewers have acclimated themselves to the different brand of baseball offered overseas, be it first inning bunts, the bat flips, the slap swings or crazy pitches, and have grown to appreciate it in the absence of big league ball.
MyKBO's Favorite Home Run Bat-Flips from May 30th's games featuring Park Chan-ho, Lee Sung-yeol, Lee Sung-woo, and Moon Sang-cheol pic.twitter.com/ADytzuQqFc
— Dan Kurtz (@MyKBO) May 30, 2020
One former big leaguer who has been closely followed by this regular report is erstwhile Detroit Tigers infielder Dixon Machado, who started off the season en fuego but has cooled to a bone-chilling freeze at the plate over the past couple of weeks. The 29-year-old Venezuelan picked up the pace a bit on Saturday, going 2-4 with a walk, though he also slid back into his slump on Sunday with an 0-5 showing with an RBI. Machado’s slashline on the season currently sits at .210 BA/.289 OBP/.696 OPS with four home runs.
Neither of the other former Tigers in action did much better in their appearances on the mound. Let us take a look at how those went.
May 30: Cuevas gets rocked, Wiz pummeled
This game started off innocently enough, with the Wiz and the Heroes trading goose eggs on the scoreboard for the first couple of innings, though the latter managed a single in each frame which foreshadowed was yet to come. KT got on the board first with a two-run home run off the bat of catcher Jang Sung-woo in the third — a lead that would only last until the bottom of the fourth. It was that inning that former Tiger William Cuevas, starting for the away team, began to stumble as he allowed a pair of solo dingers to tie the game up. In the following frame things broke loose and he was pulled from the game after throwing 4⅓ innings allowing five earned runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out two on 93 pitches to take the loss. His bullpen fared even worse, opening the floodgates in the seventh en route to a double-digit blowout. Kiwoom second baseman Kim Hye-sung led the offensive outburst on Saturday, going 4-5 and hit through the cycle — the second player in Heroes’ history to achieve the feat — along with three runs scored and four runs batted in.
MyKBO's Player of the Day: Kiwoom's Kim Hye-sung hit for the cycle today (26th in league history, Kiwoom's 2nd ever)
— Dan Kurtz (@MyKBO) May 30, 2020
KBSnSports with the call pic.twitter.com/WyfZu5Xw1g
Other results:
W: Lee Min-woo; L: Lim Chan-gyu
W: Ricardo Pinto; L: Jang Shi-hwan
Lotte Giants 4, Doosan Bears 5
W: Kwon Hyuk; L: Song Seung-jun
W: David Buchanan; L: Mike Wright
May 31: Chad’s Bell gets rung
Much like Cuevas on Saturday, former Tiger Chad Bell struggled on Saturday as well throwing 3⅔ innings allowing four earned runs on five hits, five walks and a strikeout on 78 pitches in the no-decision. The 31-year-old left-hander was shaky from the start after giving up a pair of runs in the opening frame on a lead-off double, a pair of walks and a single, and continued to struggle with his control giving up another couple of base-on-balls in the second while giving up a leadoff single in the third. After a strikeout and a groundout to start the fourth inning, he gave up a double, a single and a walk before getting the hook. In an inverse from the game reviewed above, however, Bell’s bullpen did a good enough job to stop the bleeding and keep the game close the rest of the way. Former Texas Ranger Jared Hoying led the way on offense going 2-4 with a three-run home run in the losing cause on Sunday.
#HanwhaEagles OF Jared Hoying launches one deep into RF for a 3 run shot. Former #Rangers player in the #MLB has been a big success over in the #KBO #BuiltToKBO #KBOLeague pic.twitter.com/AowI3wysw8
— Prospects Worldwide (@ProspectsWorldW) May 31, 2020
Other results:
W: Bae Je-seong; L: Lee Seung-ho
W: Tyler Wilson; L: Drew Gagnon
Lotte Giants 8, Doosan Bears 3
W: Lee In-bok; L: Kwon Hyuk
W: Koo Chang-mo; L: Choi Chae-heung
BONUS:
Watch out!
this has to be the farther most inside pitch a hitter has made contact with in this KBO season pic.twitter.com/ivYVZLz4kn
— Kazuto Yamazaki (@Kazuto_Yamazaki) June 1, 2020
Coming up:
Tuesday, June 2
Lotte Giants vs Kia Tigers (5:30 a.m. ET)
Doosan Bears vs. KT Wiz (5:30 a.m. ET)
SK Wyverns vs. NC Dinos (5:30 a.m. ET)
Samsung Lions vs. LG Twins (5:30 a.m. ET)
Kiwoom Heroes vs. Hanwha Eagles (5:30 a.m. ET)
Wednesday, June 3
Lotte Giants vs. Kia Tigers (5:30 a.m. ET)
Doosan Bears vs. KT Wiz (5:30 a.m. ET)
SK Wyverns vs. NC Dinos (5:30 a.m. ET)
Samsung Lions vs. LG Twins (5:30 a.m. ET)
Kiwoom Heroes vs. Hanwha Eagles (5:30 a.m. ET)
KBO Standings: June 1
# | Team | W | L | D | PCT | GB | STRK/LAST 10G |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
# | Team | W | L | D | PCT | GB | STRK/LAST 10G |
1 | NC Dinos | 18 | 5 | 0 | 0.783 | 0 | 1W |
2 | LG Twins | 16 | 7 | 0 | 0.696 | 2 | 1W |
3 | Doosan Bears | 14 | 9 | 0 | 0.609 | 4 | 1L |
4 | Kiwoom Heroes | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0.5 | 6.5 | 1L |
4 | Kia Tigers | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0.5 | 6.5 | 1L |
6 | Lotte Giants | 11 | 12 | 0 | 0.478 | 7 | 1W |
7 | KT Wiz | 10 | 13 | 0 | 0.435 | 8 | 1W |
8 | Samsung Lions | 10 | 14 | 0 | 0.417 | 8.5 | 1L |
9 | SK Wyverns | 7 | 16 | 0 | 0.304 | 11 | 4W |
10 | Hanwha Eagles | 7 | 17 | 0 | 0.292 | 11.5 | 8L |
You can watch all of the games live or on delay using the Twitch app. Click here for a the link to the channel.