SK Wyverns eliminate Lotte Giants, reach Korean Series

The SK Wyverns defeated the Lotte Giants 6-3 on Monday to reach the championship final in South Korea's top baseball league.For the Korea Baseball Organization crown, the Wyverns will battle the Samsung Lions, the defending champs, in the Korean Series starting Wednesday. The Wyverns will make their sixth straight trip to the Korean Series. They already set the KBO record for consecutive Korean Series appearances with five in 2011.The Wyverns won the championship in 2007, 2008 and 2010. In the f

Oct. 22, 2012

SK, Lotte head into Game 5

BUSAN (Yonhap News) ― The SK Wyverns edged the Lotte Giants 2-1 in the Korea Baseball Organization’s second round of the playoffs Saturday, forcing a decisive Game 5.At Sajik Stadium in Busan, SK’s starter Mario Santiago pitched six shutout innings and the bullpen held on for dear life as the Wyverns staved off elimination on the road.The winner will face defending champion Samsung Lions in the Korea Series. The Lions, who won the league title last year, received a bye to the Korean Series by vi

Oct. 21, 2012

Lotte Giants defeat SK Wyverns, sit one win from final

BUSAN (Yonhap) – The Lotte Giants defeated the SK Wyverns 4-1 on Friday to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five second-round playoff series in South Korea's top baseball league.The winner will face defending champion Samsung Lions in the Korea Series. The Lions, who won the league title last year, received the bye to the Korean Series by virtue of finishing first in the regular season.In Friday's match at Sajik Stadium in Busan, the Giants' starter Ko Won-jun held the Wyverns to just three single

Oct. 19, 2012

Bring on the World Series

Tigers become just the fourth team to never trail while sweeping a four-game seriesDETROIT (AP) ― Max Scherzer capped a stupendous stretch for Detroit’s starting rotation, and the Tigers advanced to the World Series for the second time in seven years by beating the New York Yankees 8-1 on Thursday for a four-game sweep of the AL Championship Series.Miguel Cabrera and Jhonny Peralta hit two-run homers in a four-run fourth inning against CC Sabathia, who was unable to prevent the Yankees from gett

Oct. 19, 2012

Carpenter leads Cardinals to win

ST. LOUIS (AP) ― Carlos Beltran limped to the trainer’s room, taking the St. Louis Cardinals’ biggest clutch October bat with him.Turns out they had the perfect substitute.Matt Carpenter hit a two-run homer after subbing for Beltran, and the Cardinals chased Matt Cain before a 3 1/2-hour rain delay in the seventh inning of a 3-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night for a 2-1 NL Championship Series lead.Beltran strained his left knee running out a double-play ball in the first

Oct. 18, 2012

Game of attrition

Before their teams met for the second round of the playoff series in the country’s top baseball league, Lee Man-soo, the manager of the SK Wyverns, and Yang Seung-ho, his Lotte Giants counterpart, talked about the importance of their bullpens.The managers have been getting more than what they’d bargained for, however, as relief pitching has played decisive roles in the first two games of their best-of-five series.The Wyverns and the Giants are locked even at one game apiece in the ongoing Korea

Oct. 18, 2012

Lotte Giants beat SK Wyverns to tie playoff series

Lotte Giants’ Jo Sung-hwan gets a timely hit during the Game 2 of second round of the 2012 KBO playoffs. (Yonhap News)The Lotte Giants defeated the SK Wyverns 5-4 in 10 innings on Wednesday to tie their second round playoff series at one game apiece in South Korea's top baseball league.In the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) contest at Munhak Stadium here, west of Seoul, SK's reliever Jung Woo-ra

Oct. 17, 2012

Verlander gives Tigers 3-0 lead

DETROIT (AP) ― The New York Yankees avoided a dubious distinction. They didn’t avoid moving within a loss of elimination.Eduardo Nunez’s ninth-inning home run prevented New York from getting shut out in consecutive postseason games for the first time. Raul Ibanez went on to strike out against former Yankee Phil Coke with two on, sealing a 2-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night and a 3-0 AL championship series deficit.On a night when Alex Rodriguez was benched for the second time in four

Oct. 17, 2012

SK Wyverns beat Lotte Giants to start second round of baseball playoffs

SK Wyverns` Park Jung-kwon hits a go-head single that clinched the game 1 of the second round of the KBO playoffs on Tuesday in Incheon. (Yonhap News)The SK Wyverns squeezed past the Lotte Giants 2-1 Tuesday to open the second round of the playoffs in South Korea's top baseball competition.In the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) action at Munhak Stadium here, just west of Seoul, starter Kim Kwang

Oct. 17, 2012

Giants crush Cards in Game 2 to tie up NLCS

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ― Marco Scutaro answered Matt Holliday’s hard takeout with a big hit of his own to help the San Francisco Giants end their home slide.Scutaro hit a two-run single in San Francisco’s four-run fourth inning to help the Giants get their first home win this postseason, 7-1 over the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night that tied the NL Championship Series at one game apiece.The game got off to a testy start when Holliday barreled into Scutaro at second base to break up a potential d

Oct. 16, 2012

Tigers beat Yanks for 2-0 lead in ALCS

NEW YORK (AP) ― Anibal Sanchez and the Detroit Tigers made the plays, benefited from an admitted missed call by an umpire and delivered during their few good opportunities at the plate.The reward: a commanding 2-0 lead in the AL championship series, and a trip home with their ace ready to start.Sanchez shut down a Yankees lineup minus injured Derek Jeter, and Detroit won without any drama this time, beating New York 3-0 Sunday. Yankees starter Hiroki Kuroda pitched perfect ball into the sixth in

Oct. 15, 2012

Tigers win in 12 to take ALCS lead over Yanks

NEW YORK (AP) ― Delmon Young doubled home the go-ahead run in the 12th inning after New York’s Raul Ibanez hit another stunning game-tying home run during a four-run rally in the ninth, and the Detroit Tigers outlasted the Yankees 6-4 Saturday night in an AL championship series opener in which Derek Jeter was helped off the field with what appeared to be a serious leg injury.Jeter rolled over his knee when he dove in an attempt to glove Jhonny Peralta’s grounder up the middle in the 12th. Unable

Oct. 14, 2012

Lotte, SK clash in rematch of last year's playoff series

Lotte Giants celebrate after eliminating Doosan bears in the first round of the playoffs on Friday. (Yonhap News)The two teams that clashed in the second round of the South Korean baseball playoffs last year will square off in a rematch starting this week.On Tuesday, the SK Wyverns will host the Lotte Giants at their home Munhak Stadium in Incheon, just west of Seoul, to open the second round seri

Oct. 14, 2012

Never satisfied

Despite having a strong first season in Japan, Lee Dae-ho sees room for improvementGIMHAE (Yonhap News) ― Upon returning from a strong first season in Japan, South Korean baseball slugger Lee Dae-ho said he was only half-satisfied with his performance this year.The Nippon Professional Baseball star received a hero’s welcome at Gimhae International Airport, some 450 kilometers southeast of Seoul, arriving home two days after finishing his first season with the Orix Buffaloes.Lee ended the season

Oct. 11, 2012

Nexen promotes Yeom Kyung-yup to lead team

The Nexen Heroes in South Korea’s top baseball league on Wednesday promoted their third base coach Yeom Kyung-yup to manager.The Heroes of the Korea Baseball Organization announced that Yeom signed a three-year deal, worth 200 million won ($180,000) per season with a signing bonus of another 200 million won. This will be the first managerial job for the 44-year-old.“I’d like to thank the team for giving me this opportunity,” Yeom said. “I will try to name my coaching staff as soon as possible. M

Oct. 10, 2012