MVP Ryu Gets 1st Win of His Second Season

By Moon Gwang-lip

Staff Reporter

There was no sign of a second-year slump.

Ryu Hyun-jin, 2006 rookie of the year and most valuable player, pitched a solid eight innings Thursday for his first victory of the season as the Hanwha Eagles edged the Doosan Bears 2-1 in the Korea Baseball Organization league in Seoul.

The 20-year-old allowed one run on seven hits in his second outing, helping the runner-up side in the 2006 Korean Series rise early to the top in the eight-member league.

Ryu threw 117 pitches, 78 for strikes, and fanned seven, in the same strong form the Inchon-native demonstrated last season as he topped the league with 18 victories, 204 strikeouts and an ERA of 2.23. At the season opener on April 6 against the Hanwha Eagles, he gave up four runs over 5 2/3 innings.

At Chamsil Stadium, the hosting Bears opened the scoring first on Yoon Jae-kuk’s grounder, which drove in Lee Young-woo from third base.

The Eagles leveled on a Kim Tae-kyun’s sacrifice fly in the fourth, and scored the game-winning run in the ninth, making use of third baseman Kim Dong-joo’s throwing error.

Choi Young-pil collected his first save of the season, holding the final inning in check.

Bears starter Matt Randel gave up one run for seven innings, but was overshadowed by the loss.

In Pusan, the LG Twins cracked 13 hits and stopped the blistering pace of the Lotte Giants with a 7-5 win. The Giants (4-2) dropped to second, while the Twins (3-3) are tied for fourth.

The visitors scored seven runs in the first four innings, before the Giants began their late rallying effort, only to come up short.

No.4 in the Giants lineup Lee Dae-ho failed to stretch his three-game homer streak, but the 2006 most home-run titleholder was still impressive going 3-for-4.

In Inchon, 12 innings of the neck-and-neck battle between Samsung Lions and SK Wyverns ended in a 1-1 draw.

In the second inning, Lions’ Park Jin-man came home from second base on Wyverns third baseman Jeung Keun-woo’s throwing error on Cho Young-hoon’s grounder to get the Lions on the board.

Wyverns infielder Choi Jeong hit an RBI single in the seventh to tie the game.

The Wyverns had a scoring chance in the 12

th

inning with two runners at second and first bases on two outs, but Lions closer Oh Seung-hwan struck out Kim Kang-min to record the league’s second drawn game of the season.

In Kwangju, rookie Yang Hyun-jong fanned out the Hyundai Unicorns over 5 2/3 innings, helping the Kia Tigers to a 2-0 victory.

The Tigers took the lead in the eighth on Son Ji-hwan’s center-left single, bringing in Kim Won-sup from second and sending Lee Yong-kyu to third from first. Lee scored on a squeeze bunt by next-at-bat Cha Il-mok.

Han Ki-joo retired the final three batters including two strikeouts for his first save of the season.