Cardinals' closer Oh Seung-hwan blows 3rd save of season

Published : Jun 28, 2017 - 15:53 Updated : Jun 28, 2017 - 15:54

St. Louis Cardinals' closer Oh Seung-hwan has blown his third save of the season, as his midseason woes continued.

Oh gave up a solo home run to squander a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the ninth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field in Phoenix on Tuesday (local time). The Cards went on to lose the game 6-5 in 10 innings.

South Korean Oh Seung-hwan of the St. Louis Cardinals (Yonhap)

Oh entered the game in the ninth with the Cards nursing that one-run lead. Leading off the frame, David Peralta took the South Korean right-hander over the left field for the game-tying home run.

Oh threw him a first-pitch curve, and went ahead in the count 1-2 with back-to-back fastballs. But he left the changeup high in the zone as Peralta sent it to the opposite field.

Oh retired Paul Goldschmidt on a flyout but gave up a single to Jake Lamb. The pitcher then retired the next two batters but the damage had already been done.

With one earned run in one inning of work, Oh's ERA went up from 3.60 to 3.75.

His ERA at the start of June was 2.88, and he lowered it to 2.77 after a
scoreless inning on June 1.

But over his eight games, a span of eight innings, Oh has given up seven earned runs, for an ERA of 7.88.

For the month of June, his ERA is 5.73, by far the worst monthly ERA in his career.

Oh blew four saves in all of 2016, his rookie year, in 76 appearances. He began the season as a setup man before taking over from struggling Trevor Rosenthal midseason.

The right-hander has also been touched for six home runs in 36 innings in 2017, after giving up only five in 79 2/3 innings last year. (Yonhap)