LG Twins Lee Seong-ho Notches First Win in 12 Games

A lefty starter for the LG Twins, Lee Seong-ho commanded the first spot in rotation. Back in 2003, he posted 11 wins and a 3.19 ERA. He also recorded 157 strikeouts.

Despite various injuries, he won 9 games in 2004, and 8 games in 2006.

But this season has been his nightmare. He failed to show anything in his spring outings. Thus, the team pulled him out of the rotation. Even worse, his back injury forced him down into the Korean minor leagues.

Coming back to the Korean majors, he did not show much improvement. He threw 8 and 2/3 innings in seven games, and recorded a 2.32 ERA without any win or loss. He never pitched more than 5 innings in a single game.

Saturday, however, Lee was different. He threw 7 innings and struck out five batters. He did not record any earned runs, contributing to his team’s 10-1 win over Hanwha. It was his first season victory in 12 games. It was also his first winning game as starter in 13 months.

The LG Twins showed the Hanwha Eagles with a three-run homer and 15 hits, and scored 10 runs.

In the meantime, SK beat Lotte, 10-4 in a home game at Incheon with Park Jae-sang’s three-run home run and Lee Jin-yeong’s career 100th home run. SK pitcher Kim Won-hyeong was expelled over a bean ball controversy, but SK mobilized seven pitchers to fill up the vacancy and won the game. Hanwha now is behind the leading SK by 6.5 games.

In other action, Hyundai pulled out a tough win in a Suwon home game against Kia. Hyundai batter Lee Sung-yong’s hit to left field broke a 5-5 tie and gave victory to his team. Samsung won a 4-1 victory against Doosan in a Daegu home game.

beetlez@donga.com