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| Wilin Rosario of the Hanwha Eagles rounds bases after hitting a home run in the top of the sixth inning during his team's Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) League game against the KT Wiz at Suwon KT Wiz Park, Friday. / Yonhap |
By Baek Byung-yeul
Happy Hanwha Eagles fans waved Dominican Republic flags last weekend as Wilin Rosario belted eight home runs in three games in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) League, helping his team sweep a three game-series against the KT Wiz.
At Suwon KT Wiz Park, the Eagles grabbed the first game on Friday as Rosario went wild with four home runs and seven RBIs for his team's 15-14 win.
After adding a solo home run in his team's 9-1 win on Saturday, the Dominican displayed his power, hitting three more home runs in the Eagles' 13-5 win on Sunday.
Before the three-game series, the Eagles' interim manager Lee Sang-kun told reporters that Rosario had been grim-faced as it had been 18 games since the Dominican hit his ninth home run of the season on May 23. But, Rosario, who realized his ability to drive the ball to the opposite field, became the new record holder as he broke the previous record of five home runs in a three-game series.
Including the sweep, the Eagles had four wins and two losses last weekend to stand eighth in the 10-team league with 28 wins and 38 losses.
In Gwangju, the LG Twins climbed to fourth in the standings after two wins and a loss against the league-leading Kia Tigers over the weekend. The Twins now stand at 35 wins and 30 losses while the Tigers stand at 43-24.
The defending champion Doosan Bears took two wins over the NC Dinos to remain in second place over the weekend. The seventh-place Lotte Giants have suffered six consecutive losses as the Giants were swept in a three-game series by the sixth-place Nexen Heroes.
In Daegu, the cellar-dwelling Samsung Lions ended a two-game losing streak after defeating the SK Wyverns 7-5 on Sunday.
Tigers' Choi takes KBO All-Star voting lead
The Tigers outfielder Choi Hyung-woo continues to lead KBO All-Star balloting.
The KBO announced the second update of the KBO All-Star Game fan voting on Monday and Choi, who earned 758,494 votes as of Sunday at 4 p.m., has continued to take the lead for the second consecutive week.
This year's KBO All-Star Game, which will take place at Daegu Samsung Lions Park on July 15, will be between players from the Dream All-Star team (players from the Doosan Bears, Samsung Lions, SK Wyverns, Lotte Giants and KT Wiz) and the Nanum team (NC Dinos, Nexen Heroes, Hanwha Eagles, Kia Tigers and LG Twins). Choi's teammate, starting pitcher Yang Hyeon-jong, ranked second in the Nanum All-Star voting after garnering 717,174 votes.
For the Dream All-Star team, the Wyverns' third baseman Choi Jeong leads the voting with 703,797, followed by the Giants' first baseman Lee Dae-ho with 679,773.
The Lions' slugger Lee Seung-yuop leads the voting for the designated hitter position after earning 666,873 votes. If the 40-year-old veteran makes the All-Star Game, he will become the oldest player to play.
