Byun-Hyun Succeed in Relief in Critical Moment

"Korean Super Nuclear Submarine" Byung-Hyun Kim of the Boston Red Sox showed perfect pitching yesterday.

Yesterday, Kim took the mound as a closer in the 12th with his team leading the game 2-1. He shut out the inning, and marked up one more save.

After conversion from starter to closer, he won two saves. He first snatched up his first on July 3rd against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He is now 3-7 with two saves. His ERA is 3.65 in total. After switched to the Boston, he has won two and lost two with two saves. His ERA for the Red Sox is 3.76.

The game was neck and neck. Nonetheless, Boston Manager Grady Little expressed confidence and trust in Kim by having him close the game.

Kim first faced Devil Rays slugger Carlos Delgado, who hits 0.310 and has made 93 runs. He was a tough opponent to handle for Kim. But Manager Little put Kim on the mound against Delgado.

Delgado hit the third pitch, or a sinker of Kim, but got popped out. Kim also popped out the next hitter Tom Wilson, and struck out last year`s Rookie of the Year Erik.

Kim demonstrated his perfect ball command. Eight of his 12 pitches swished through the strike zone without any margin—they were "calculated." The previous day, he had to swallow a loss due to Todd Walker`s error. By winning a save the next day, Kim proved himself again.

The game was a "war" between pitchers on either side. Until the 12th, it was 1-1 even. Then, Johnny Damon hit a double, which led to the winning point by Jason Varitek`s following hit.

Jung Bong of the Atlanta Braves sealed off a crisis, and supported his team`s victory as reliever.

Bong took the mound in the 8th for the Braves against the New York Mets. All bases were loaded and the out count was just one. He overcame the crisis by inducing a double play. The Mets were leading 5-3. Bong, however, caught the hit of Roger and sent it home, which was relayed to the first, leading to a double play. His ERA was lowered from 4.06 to 4.00. He is now 6-1.

Chang Jeon jeon@donga.com