By Yoon Chul
Staff Reporter
Last season's third ranked Doosan Bears have overwhelmed other contenders thanks to their improved firepower in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO). Meanwhile preseason favorite Lotte Giants grabbed their first victory of the season.
The Bears have smashed 11 home runs, the most in the KBO, and scored 48 runs in seven games.
Korean international outfielder Kim Hyun-soo has led the offense batting .458 with six RBIs and one homer.
On the mound their new import starter Kelvin Jimenez snatched two wins pitching 11 innings and their bullpen of Lee Yong-chan and Lim Tae-hoon have closed one game each.
On Sunday, The Seoul based Bears had an 8-0 shut-out win against last season runner-up SK Wyverns in Incheon.
Bears starter Lee Jae-woo tied the Wyverns' at bat allowing only one single in six innings and the three next relievers also allowed just one hit.
In Gwangju, The Giants finally notched a 3-2 win at the end of 12th inning against the defending champions Kia Tigers.
In the top of the 12th with a 2-2 tie, leadoff hitter Lee Seung-hwa hit a double and moved to third thanks to the next batter's ground ball.
Hong Sung-heon, who was league's second-best leading hitter, last season, hit a sacrifice fly ball to center field for an RBI.
In the last inning Tigers slugger Choi Hee-seop was at bat with two out and his hit seemed to penetrate the infield just next to first base but Park Jong-yoon's diving catch finished the game.
LG Twins ace Bong Jung-keun was sent to the second-tier team, after collapsing against the Nexen Heroes.
The Twins lefty ace lasted just three innings, allowing three runs with three hits and four walks.
``I thought the injury to his right thigh seemed to have healed perfectly," Twins manager Park Jong-hoon said. ``But as he didn't do well on the mound, I will send him to the second tier team. I am sorry for the fans,'' added Park.
Samsung Lions are starting to worry about their relievers ― the strength of the team.
The Lions have been tipped as potential champions thanks to their strong bullpen. But until now their key relievers Kwon Hyuk and Jung Hyun-wook haven't pitched enough to gain manager's Sun Dong-ryul full trust.
On Saturday the two relievers allowed four runs in 1 2/3 innings against the Hanwha Eagles in an 11-9 defeat in Daejeon.
``Kwon Oh-jun and An Ji-man's are throwing better,'' Lions boss Sun said implying his two struggling relievers need to find some form quickly.
Last season bottom dog Hanwha Eagles' new manager Han Dae-wha is feeling the loss of Kim Tae-kyun to the Chiba Lotte Marines and Lee Bum-ho to the SoftBank Hawks. But their ace inning-eater Ryu Hyun-jin has stood solidly on the mound.
Ryu, who recorded his first win of the season on March 30 allowing three runs in seven innings, pitched another seven innings giving up only one run against the Lions, Sunday but failed to add another win.
Ryu has pitched 14 innings ― the most in the KBO ― and recorded the most strikeouts, 11 with a 2.57 ERA.
The Heroes new left handed starters Keum Min-chul and Kang Yoon-koo, and Adrian Burnside's ascendency have lifted the Heroes into a tie for second with the Wyverns with a 4-2 record, even if the third Seoul based team was evaluated as one of weakest in the KBO.
Keum has two wins and Kang and Burnside have generated a win each.
Keum and Kang's brilliant performances are already better than their boss Kim Si-jin's expectation.
In the 11 2/3 innings Keum has pitched he has only allowed two runs with a 1.54 ERA.
Burnside didn't pitch well in his first KBO appearance, allowing five runs in 4 1/3 innings against the Bears on March 30, but he pitched seven scoreless innings against the Twins, Sunday.
``This is the kind of performance we expect from him,'' Heroes boss Kim said.
``His power does not overwhelm batters, but Burnside knows how to control the game. His pitches are not easy to hit,'' added Kim.
In the upcoming games, the Bears and the Twins ― Seoul's archrivals ― will have three head-to-head meetings, starting Friday.