Twins' Park Byung-ho records first hit with men in scoring position

Park Byung-ho of the Minnesota Twins got his first hit with a runner in scoring position Sunday at home against the Detroit Tigers.

Park went 1-for-3 with an RBI and a walk, as the Twins lost 6-5 at Target Field.

Park drove in his one run of the game with two outs and men at first and second in the bottom of the first. Park hit a single to right off Mike Pelfrey to drive in Joe Mauer from second, giving the Twins a 1-0 lead.

Park had gone 0-for-15 with men in scoring position prior to this game. He has a team-high six home runs and all of them have been solo shots.

Park stepped up in the bottom third with runners at second and third and nobody out but went down swinging on Pelfrey's 2-2 slider.

He drew a walk to load the bases in the bottom fifth, and the Twins scored twice to make it 5-2.

The Tigers tied the score on Nick Castellanos' three-run home run in the top sixth. They went ahead 6-5 in the top eighth when Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit a double to left, and closer Francisco Rodriguez worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning to preserve the one-run victory.

Park is batting .232 with six home runs and nine RBIs in his first major league season, after leading the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) in home runs and RBIs in each of the past four years.

The Twins have lost four in a row and remain at the bottom of the American League Central division at 7-18.

Elsewhere in the majors on Sunday, Oh Seung-hwan of the St.

Louis Cardinals allowed an earned run on two doubles in 2/3 of an inning against the Washington Nationals at home.

The South Korean right-hander let in a run for only the second time in 13 appearances this season, as the Cardinals lost 6-1.

Oh took the mound as the team's third pitcher in the top eighth at Busch Stadium, with the Cards trailing 4-0.

He promptly gave up a leadoff double to Anthony Rendon. Oh struck out Bryce Harper on a 3-2 changeup, but Daniel Murphy lined a double to left to bring home Rendon.

Oh retired Jayson Werth on a flyout to center and was relieved by Tyler Lyons.

Oh saw his ERA jump from 1.38 to 1.98 after Sunday, as the Cardinals suffered their fourth straight loss to drop to 12-13.

Oh has 20 strikeouts in 13 2/3 innings and has recorded at least one punchout in all but two of his outings so far.

The 33-year-old big league rookie signed with the Cardinals in January, after recording 277 saves in nine seasons in the KBO -- an all-time record here -- and 80 more in two seasons in Japan.

In the AL, conspicuous by his absence was the Baltimore Orioles outfielder Kim Hyun-soo.

A day after enjoying his first three-hit game, Kim sat out the O's 7-1 loss against the Chicago White Sox at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The left-handed hitting Kim watched from the bench as left-hander Chris Sale improved to 6-0 while allowing just one earned run over 5 1/3 innings.

The former Korean All-Star, who joined the O's last December, has only played in six games this year and is batting .600

(9-for-15) with an RBI and a pair of walks. (Yonhap)