.jpg) Cleveland Indians outfielder Choo Shin-soo, left, of South Korea, celebrates his home run with Asdrubal Cabrera during the first inning of a spring training game against the Cincinnati Reds in Goodyear, Ariz., Tuesday. / AP-Yonhap |
By Yoon Chul
Choo Shin-soo of the Cleveland Indians blasted two home runs against the Cincinnati Reds in the last spring training game in an 8-3 defeat in Major League Baseball (MLB), Wednesday (KST).
The Korean unusually played as a leadoff hitter and punished Reds starter Bronson Arroyo with two solo homers in the final Cactus League game.
With his second and third dingers in spring training games Choo went 2-for-3 raising his batting average to .332 before being substituted in the sixth.
With a count of three balls and one strike, the 28-year-old smashed a high inside pitch over the fence at the Goodyear Ballpark.
In the fifth, Arroyo pitched in the same area with a 2-2 count looking for a strikeout but Choo pounded another solo home run.
The Reds starter allowed six hits and one walk with three runs in 6 1/3 innings.
In the last spring training game for the Indians, the fans understood Tribe manager Manny Acta concerns. Leadoff hitter Grady Sizemore needs more time to return from injury and Acta needs to find someone to fill in for him. For the last two seasons Cho batted third in the line-up.
The Tribe boss tried Michael Brantley (.263 avg, .300 OBP) and Orlando Cabrera (.267 avg .306 OBP) as the team’s first hitters in spring training but their on base percentages (OBP) and batting averages (AVG) didn’t overly impress.
The 2011 season of MLB begins Friday (local time) and the Indians first match is against the Chicago White Sox at home.
