The Korea Herald

Nats spoil Dice-K’s debut

Jun 10, 2012

BOSTON (AP) ― The Washington Nationals have quite a one-two punch in their starting rotation.Gio Gonzalez followed Stephen Strasburg’s strong effort a night earlier by pitching 6 1/3 effective innings to carry the Nationals to a 4-2 win over the Boston Red Sox on Saturday.Gonzalez held Boston to two hits and no runs before leaving with two runners on in the seventh.“We’re talking about two guys that are such talented guys, they have great stuff,” said Nationals catcher Jesus Flores, who caught b
Struggling Tigers lose again, 4-2 to Indians

Jun 6, 2012

DETROIT (AP) ― Ubaldo Jimenez had walked more hitters than anybody in baseball this year, and it’s fair to say he’d been a bit of a bust since coming over to Cleveland in a big trade last season.“He’s better than that,” manager Manny Acta said Tuesday night. “Today was a step in the right direction.”Jimenez walked only one hitter, pitching impressively into the seventh inning, and the Indians hit three run-scoring triples off rookie Drew Smyly in a 4-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers.Jimenez (6-
Surging Giants sweep away Cubs

Jun 5, 2012

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ― Ryan Vogelsong kept thinking how steady all the other San Francisco starters have been over the past week. It weighed on his mind Monday morning before his outing.His turn, time to keep up and do his part. He delivered, all right.Vogelsong won his fourth straight decision, Buster Posey scored the go-ahead run on a double-play groundball by Joaquin Arias in the seventh inning and the Giants beat the Chicago Cubs 3-2 on Monday for a four-game sweep.San Francisco’s starters hav
Korean baseball attendance continues to rise

Jun 5, 2012

Korean baseball fans are coming out in full force this year and breaking attendance records, according to the Korean Baseball Organization on Tuesday.Since the season opened on April 7, the nation’s seven stadiums have seen more than 3 million fans come to enjoy the sport as of Tuesday.The KBO hit the mark just 186 games into the season, breaking last year’s record of 3 million fans in 227 games.On April 29, attendance numbers hit the million mark just 65 games into the season, and on May 18, th
Lee Dae-ho bags MVP award for May

Jun 5, 2012

Korean veteran slugger Lee Dae-ho has pumped up his Japanese performance this month, earning him the league’s MVP award for May.The Orix Buffaloes’ “Big Boy” Lee was named the Pacific League MVP for his offensive performance last month, making him the third Korean ever to receive the honor.Lee topped the charts with 28 hits, a batting average of .322 and eight home runs during the month, his second month in the Japanese league. Lee’s performance put him far ahead of Iguchi Tadahito of the Lotte
Twins take 2 of 3 from Tribe

Jun 4, 2012

CLEVELAND (AP) ― Now that the Minnesota Twins are winning, they hope they haven’t lost Joe Mauer for long.The former AL MVP and three-time batting champion sprained his right thumb and left the Twins’ 5-3 win over the Cleveland Indians on Sunday, Minnesota’s fifth victory in six games following a five-game losing streak.“Hopefully I’ll be back in there soon,” said Mauer, who singled home Minnesota’s first run and later walked and scored. “They (trainers) assured me I’m day to day.” The four-tim
Mauer snaps out of slump as Twins roll

Jun 3, 2012

CLEVELAND (AP) ― Joe Mauer knows how to break out of a slump.Mauer, who entered Saturday night’s game in an 0 for 10 skid, had three hits and three RBIs, including a two-run homer, to lead the Minnesota Twins to a 7-4 win over the Cleveland Indians. “I was making good contact,” Mauer said. “I felt pretty good.” Mauer had an RBI single in Minnesota’s four-run first inning. He also singled in the second and hit a two-run homer in the seventh off Tony Sipp.Trevor Plouffe’s one-out homer in the sixt
Lee enjoys big month

Jun 1, 2012

May was a big month for the Orix Buffaloes’ slugger Lee Dae-ho after hitting eight homers.Lee ended his second month in the Pacific League with a batting average of .277 which is likely to only keep rising as he ended the month with a six-game hitting streak. Up from .233 at the beginning of the month, Lee could possibly add more to the board on Saturday against the Tohuku Golden Eagles after a day’s rest.And looking at the number of homers Lee has this early in the season, it seems as though he
Chen, timely hitting lead Royals past Indians 6-3

May 31, 2012

CLEVELAND (AP) ― The Kansas City Royals are headed home on a high note.Wednesday’s 6-3 win over the Cleveland Indians was significant on several fronts for the Royals. The victory gave Kansas City a 5-4 road trip in which it won four of its last six games. The Royals, who are off Thursday, finished May with a 15-13 record, their first winning mark in the month since 2000.Kansas City, which took two of three in both Baltimore and Cleveland after losing two of three in New York to open the trip, i
Lee Dae-ho bashes season’s 10th homer

May 29, 2012

The Orix Buffaloes’ “Big Boy” Lee Dae-ho hit his 10th home run of the season on Monday, putting him first in the Pacific League and second in Japan. What’s surprising is that the 29-year-old is not only smashing balls into the upper deck at a record pace but doing it after only 100 days in Japan. Lee’s last homer against the Yokohama Baystars on Monday put him one ahead of Wily Pena of the Softbank Hawks, also of the Pacific League, and two behind the Tokyo Swallows’ Wladimir Balentien of the Ce
Sale has 15 strikeouts as White Sox clip Rays

May 29, 2012

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (AP) ― Chris Sale nearly made White Sox history in a dominating victory.Sale struck out a career-high 15, Adam Dunn hit a two-run homer and Chicago extended its winning streak to six games with a 2-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday.“A special day ... it was awesome,” said Sale, who is from nearby Lakeland. “It’s nice, especially growing up and being kind of a Tampa Bay Rays fan. My uncle brought me here to the first game. It was the day after my birthday.” Sale
Lee Dae-ho hits 10th home run, leads Japanese Pacific League

May 29, 2012

(Yonhap News)Lee Dae-ho hit his 10th homer of the season Monday to lead the Japanese Pacific league in home runs.The Orix Buffaloes’ “Big Boy” hit a solo home run during the fourth inning of a game against the Yokohama DeNA BayStars, surpassing the Softbank Hawks’ Wily Pena.This is the first time a Korean slugger has topped the rankings in his first season across the East Sea. Despite Lee’s effort
Tigers pounce, Heroes fall and Eagles clipped

May 28, 2012

The Hanwha Eagles had a lot to look forward to this season: They brought in Korean pitching legend Park Chan-ho as a starting pitcher and saw their veteran slugger Kim Tae-kyun return from his two-year run in Japan.But the Eagles just can’t seem to pull themselves up. Although it is still early in the season, the team has an abysmal winning percentage and is in danger of repeating its 2009-2010 last-place slump.However, Kim continues to dominate the batting race with a .435 batting average and a
Sox sink Indians to finish sweep

May 28, 2012

CHICAGO (AP) ― Paul Konerko got a big milestone home run and the White Sox got a sweep of the only team between them and the AL Central lead.Konerko’s tiebreaking three-run homer was his 400th for the White Sox and Chicago routed the Cleveland Indians 12-6 on Sunday to complete a three-game sweep.The White Sox have won five straight for the first time this season and nine of 10 overall.Konerko, who extended his hitting streak to 13 games, also came out for a curtain call after fans chanted “Paul
White Sox pound Tribe 14-7

May 27, 2012

CHICAGO (AP) ― Paul Konerko just wants to trust his instincts every time he steps to the plate. The way he’s stinging the ball, why wouldn’t he?“It doesn’t come easy,” Konerko said.He sure is making it look that way, and so are his teammates, for that matter.Dayan Viciedo homered in his third straight game, Konerko had four hits, and the Chicago White Sox pounded Derek Lowe and the short-handed Cleveland Indians 14-7 on Saturday for their eighth win in nine games.Chicago scored four in the first