33rd Saves Against Padres with No Run in One Inning. Choi Hui-sub Played as a Pinch Hitter and Hit A Fly Ball to the Outfield

‘The Korean Nuclear Submarine’ Kim Byung-hyun (23. Arizona Diamondbacks) restarted his hunt for saves.

The American Pro Baseball between Arizona and the San Diego Padres at the Bank One Ball Park in Arizona on the 10th. Kim, Byung-hyun went up to the mound in the beginning of the 9th inning and saved the victory in one inning facing 4 batters, and got two strike outs and allowed no run. Kim Byung-hyun, who showed shaky condition by allowing runs in recent two games, got his 33rd saves (8 wins 2 losses) of the season in 17 days after the Chicago Cubs game of the 24th of last month. His ERA changed to 2.24.

Kim Byung-hyun, who went up to the mound as the third pitcher following Brat Prinz, turned around the lead off hitter King Sail with a strike out, but allowed a double to Davy Cruz. But got Phil Nevin with a fly ball in the middle and finished the game by getting a pinch hitter Mark Courtsay with a swung strike out.

The Arizona, which flinched in recent 7 games with 2 wins and 5 losses, got out of three consecutive losses by good starting pitching of the ‘Big Unit’ Randy Johnson and clean sweep of Kim Byung-hyun.

Johnson, who got his 21st win (5 losses) of the season, stayed his overwhelming predominant over the San Diego with 10 wins and 1 loss, and got over the hill of 300 strike outs for five consecutive seasons by getting 8 strike outs in 7 innings. And Johnson tied with Nolan Ryan for 6th 300 strike-out-season, and he was even more delighted because he set this tremendous record just one day before his 39th birthday.

Choi Hui-sub (23) of the Chicago Cubs, who celebrated his first major league hit with a home run the other day, came to the game as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the 7th inning against the Montreal Expos when his team was leading 2-1 at home, but he was out with a deep fly ball on the right. Kim Sun-woo of the Montreal did not come to the mound, so the first confrontation between a Korean pitcher and a hitter was not happened. Chicago won the game 3-2.

In the meantime the LA Dodgers announced that they promoted the first baseman from Taiwan Chen Ching Peng (24) to the Major League from the triple A. Chen Ching Peng, who entered the Big League for the first time as a Taiwanese player by recording 0.284 average, 26 homeruns, and 84 RBI’s, is predicted to compete with Choi Hui-sub and Sinjo Tsuyoshi (30. San Francisco Giants) of Japan.

Jong-Seok Kim kjs0123@donga.com