Baek Cha-seung Leads Seattle to Three Wins

Baek Cha-seung, a pitcher for the Seattle Mariners, helped his team score three wins in season play with the help of 14 hits from his team.

On June 1, he was the starting pitcher in a game against the Texas Ranger on his team’s home turf at Safeco Field. In six and one-third innings, he gave up a three-run home run, five hits and four walks. However, Baek became a winning pitcher as Seattle beat Texas in a final score of 9-5. He also helped secure two wins after games against the Kansas City Royals on May 27, and his ERA rose to 4.93 from 4.60.

He showed fabulous control with his fast ball and slider pitches on the edge of the strike zone in the first inning, but later lacked control of the ball as only 58 out of 101 pitches were in the strike zone, which is quite the contrary to the game against Kansas City. In the previous game, he threw as many as 74 strikes in 98 pitches.

He recovered from a crisis in the first half of the inning and retired batters in the second and third innings. In the fourth inning, he allowed a hit by the first batter, a middle hit to Sammy Sosa, and two scores to Frank Catalanotto with a double. Lead-off player Ian Kinsler got to first base on a walk, and Gerald Laird had a three-run homer, increasing Baek’s allowing runs to six. Baek left the mound after allowing a hit by Kenny Lofton in the seventh inning.

Seattle batters made an easy start by gaining seven scores by the third inning and also added two runs in the eighth inning, driving home the victory. Seattle’s Suzuki Ichiro drew a hit in the first inning, continuing his string of consecutive hits to 24 games.

Chu Shin-su from Cleveland Indians AAA affiliate Buffalo Bisons scored seven-game consecutive multi-hits with two hits in four at-bats in a game against Indianapolis. His batting average stands at .268. Meanwhile, Kim Seon-woo from Presno entered the game as a starter and allowed eight hits during the three innings. Although he escaped defeat with his team’s win, his ERA sharply rose from 2.81 to 5.68.

jeon@donga.com