Kim, Red Submarine Sinks at Home

It was Kim Byung-hyun`s home debut yesterday at Fenway Park in Boston. Up to the fourth, he shut out the powerful lineup of the St. Louis Cardinals, whose team batting average is tops in the National League.

His fastballs hovered just around 140km. But his renowned ball command and change-up were what dulled the Cardinals` powerful edge. He shut out ten batters, starting with the third hitter on first.

But disaster came up in the fifth when the Red Sox was leading 2-0. He popped out the second batter, after allowing a double to Edgar Renteria, who went to third on the flyball. Kim also popped out Mike. But this fortunate flyball brought him disaster. With two outs, Kim let his guard down, and allowed a hit to Orlando Palmeiro. Miguel Cairo then singled and Drew was able to hit his seventh homer.

Kim could have marked up one more win. The disaster came after two outs were made. Upon completion of the fifth, Kim was pulled off the mound. He pitched five innings and allowed four runs on six hits without any walks. His "American League" ERA has got worsened to 6.60.

Since Kim was relieved Saturday against Milwaukee, Red Sox manager Grady Little pulled him off a little earlier.

"I didn`t feel strong," said Kim, but "I don`t think that`s why I still felt kind of weak." He starts and relieves for the Red Sox. His tough-pitching schedule seems to have stretched him a little too thin. After he was traded by Arizona for third baseman Shea Hillenbrand on May 28, he started twice and was also relieved twice.

Since Boston got even in the eight, Kim avoided adding one more loser to his record. The game went to St. Louis 9-7.

In the meanwhile, Jung Bong of the Atlanta Braves allowed a single home run to the Oakland Athletics on the 12, and recorded his season`s first loser.

Sang-Soo Kim ssoo@donga.com