Long, Long Wished 4th Victory of Park

Now, it’s a piece of cake, right?

Texas Rangers amazingly made 19 scores against Boston Red Socks on August 2, in which Park Chan-ho pitched as a starting. The previous day, Rangers hitters fired out and scored 17 with 6 homers and 20 hits against Yankees. The batters had already scored 16 by the end of 3rd, giving “one winning game” gift to Park regardless of his pitching.

In the last 6 games, Park did not keep the lead his team gave to him by in-advance scoring. But this day, with plenty of scores leading, Park recorded the 4th win (5 losses) of this season at a long interval from his 3rd against Pittsburgh Pirates: after 7 games and 39 days.

Right upon taking the mound, Park’s second pitch of the game was punched and sent over the right fence by the Red Socks’ first hitter. But, as Texas hitters scored 6 in the first and second inning, and 4 in the third, Park picked up the control. He did not allow any hit from 2nd to 5th, and struck out in every inning. His fast ball reached up to 151 km. But his curve ball making sharp angles contributed more. The Korean fans living in the Dallas area came to the Arlington Ball Park and hung 9 Ks on the stand equal to the number of the strikeouts Park made. They got really excited.

But Park lost concentration due to the blister on his right middle finger in the fifth. In the following 6th, he allowed 2 homers and 4 hits and took off the mound. His ERA was raised to 7.08 with 6 scores (6 hits, 3 base on balls and 3 homers) he allowed, despite the 9 strikeouts. Out of the 98 pitches, 56 were strikes. Texas won the game 19-7.

After going through the hellish July, Park opened August with a victory. He will pitch again on August 7th at 8:05 am (KST) against Detroit Tigers, an away for his 5th win.

Kim Sun-woo, who was traded from Boston Red Socks to Montreal Expos, took the mound as a starting pitcher against Rochester Red Wings in a Triple A game of the Minor League. He recorded 2 strikeouts and 3 hits without allowing any score during 8 innings, and led his team to victory. His impressive first pitching after the trade would pave the way for his reentering the Major League.

Sang-Soo Kim ssoo@donga.com