Byung-Hyun Kim Puts out Another Fire

Atta boy!

Byung-Hyun Kim of the Boston Red Sox struck out three hitters, defending the one-point lead for the Red Sox for two days in a row.

Yesterday, in an away against the Toronto Blue Jays, he took the mound as fourth pitcher in the rocky ninth inning for the Red Sox bullpen, and handled the situation nicely. The game was 8-7 for the Boston in the ninth. He shut out the inning, and won his third save.

His season average became 3.61 with 3-7. After wearing the Red Sox uniform, he is 2-2 with three saves. His ERA is 3.66 with the Red Sox.

Kim struck out Vernon Wells with balls after allowing a leadoff double to Frank Catalanotto.

The highlight came when Calros Delgado came at bat. After reaching the full count, Kim threw a 145 km high fastball, which got Delgado swung out.

After pinch-hitter Howie Clark was hit by a pitch, Hinske struck out looking on a 3-2 pitch. He threw 23 pitches, a high number for a single inning. Out of the 23 pitches, 14 were strikes.

The Blue Jays were leading the game 7-3 up to the seventh. In the eighth, however, the Red Sox made it a tie. Then, David Ortiz hit a go-ahead double in the top of the ninth as Boston rallied for an 8-7 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

In the meanwhile, Hee Seop Choi of the Chicago Cubs was disappointing four for nothing against the Florida Marlines. His batting average, as a result, dropped from 0.255 to 0.247. But his team won a 5-1 victory with two two-run homers of Semi Sosa and Jose Hernandez.

Chang Jeon jeon@donga.com