Arizona Lost Game 2, But Byung-Hyun Pitched Perfectly

Not until `made-in-Korea Submarine` Kim Byung-Hyun (22, Arizona Diamondbacks) show to the mound, the outrageous bats of the Atlanta Braves did not ease off.

In the National League Championship Series Game 2, the Atlanta began to shower the carpet bombing upon the `veteran relievers` of the Arizona from the 3-1 leading eighth inning at the Bank One Ballpark.

Brian Jordan hit a 2-RBI double against 42-year-old Mike Morgan, B. J. Surhoff smacked a two-run homer to 36-year-old Greg Swindell, and Rey Sanchez took a RBI single from 37-year-old Bobby Witt.

Frustrated Bob Brenly, Arizona Manager, called Kim Byung-Hyun from the bullpen in the ninth inning. Kim, who barely got a chance to throw because of the starts of Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson so far, struck out Marcus Giles who shot a lead-off homer in the first inning. And then Kim grounded out Julio Franco and Chipper Jones back to back.

With this perfect pitching, Kim continued the scoreless inning march for 2 and 1/3 innings from the division series game three with the St. Louis Cardinals in the postseason.

Meanwhile, this game was a triumphant stage of Braves catcher Javy Lopez, who came back to the plate overcoming his left ankle injury. In the 1-1 tense 7th inning with two-outs and a runner on the first, Lopez drove Batista`s cut fastball down the right-field line, striking the foul pole for a two-run homer. With his decisive home run, the Atlanta earned an 8-1 victory.

Making even in the championship series, both teams play game three at 9:20 am on 20th (Korean Time), in which Curt Schilling (Arizona) and John Burkett (Atlanta) will start.

In the American League Championship Series, chasing a four consecutive World Series champion, the New York Yankees defeated 4-2 the Seattle Mariners thanks to a decisive two-run home run of 38-year-old veteran Paul O`Neill and a remarkable start of Andy Pettitte allowing just three hits and one run for 8 innings. Japanese hitter of the Seattle Suzuki Ichiro recorded one hit out of four bats and one run.

Zang Hwan-Soo zangpabo@donga.com