By Jonathan Sanfilippo
Staff Reporter
Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre asked Park Chan-ho if he was experiencing any of the pain in his right shoulder that had forced him to sit out the previous two games. Reporters also questioned the South Korean pitcher to see if he was injured.
Despite their concerns, Park refused to make excuses, insisting he was OK physically and suggesting that his struggles in the Dodgers' 5-4 loss on the road Sunday against the Detroit Tigers were the result of good hitting by the opponents.
``I made some good pitches, they just hit it,'' Park said on the Dodgers' Web site. ``Maybe they were guessing right. I don't know.''
After a 47-minute rain delay, Park took the mound in relief with the game scoreless to start the bottom of the fifth inning and proceeded to have his worst outing of the season. He was hammered for five runs ― causing his season ERA to jump from 1.96 to 2.95 ― and eight hits, while he struck out two and walked one in 1 1/3 innings of work.
After retiring the first two batters he faced, Park gave up four straight hits, including an RBI single by Placido Polanco and an RBI double by Carlos Guillen that gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead. The next batter, Magglio Ordonez, walked. Then Miguel Cabrera drove in Polanco with an infield single that made the score 3-0 before Guillen was tagged out at home to end the fifth inning.
Park returned in the sixth and allowed solo home runs to Marcus Thames and Brandon Inge, extending Detroit's lead to 5-0. Park struck out the next batter, Ryan Raburn, but surrendered a single to Brent Clevlen.
With one out and Clevlen on first, Torre pulled Park from the game and questioned him about his shoulder.
``He had no issues at all,'' Torre said. ``Chalk it up to one of those days we haven't seen from him. He's OK physically.''