Oh Seung-hwan of the St. Louis Cardinals has picked up his third save of the 2017 season.
Oh tossed a scoreless ninth inning with three strikeouts against the Milwaukee Brewers to seal the Cardinals 6-3 victory at Miller Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Friday (local time).
The 37-year-old South Korean came to the mound after Trevor Rosenthal and started the inning by striking out Orlando Arcia. Oh then retired Jesus Aguilar on a 94.3 mph four-seam fastball.
Oh, however, allowed a single to Jonathan Villar next and had to face Eric Thames, who leads Major League Baseball with eight home runs this season.
Thames first fouled off two fastballs and took a slider for a ball from Oh. But it was Oh who smiled last as he got the American slugger to strike out swinging on a changeup.
It was the first meeting between the two former Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) players. Oh, the all-time saves leader in the KBO with 277 saves over nine seasons with the Samsung Lions, moved to Japan's Hanshin Tigers in 2014 before joining the Cards last year, while Thames, the KBO MVP in 2015, played in South Korea from 2014 to 2016.
Oh has now earned a save in three straight games, with his last two outings ending without him allowing a run. The right-hander also lowered his ERA from 8.10 to 7.04 following his latest appearance.
Oh had a 1.92 ERA in 79 2/3 innings last year, along with 19 saves. (Yonhap)
