SEOUL/LOS ANGELES (Yonhap) ― Ryu Hyun-jin of the Los Angeles Dodgers suffered his second loss of the Major League Baseball season on Sunday after a shaky start against the Colorado Rockies.Ryu dropped to 3-2 after allowing six earned runs on nine hits in five-plus innings against the Rockies at Dodger Stadium, as Colorado took the game 6-1. Ryu was relieved by Brandon League with no out in the top sixth after Josh Rutledge’s three-run homer.Ryu allowed leadoff hits in four of the six innings and

April 28, 2014

PHOENIX (AP) ― Pinch hitter Cody Asche hit a two-run double in Philadelphia’s four-run eighth inning and the Phillies rallied after a shaky start by Cliff Lee to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-5 on Saturday night.The Phillies fell behind 5-0 in the first three innings as Lee struggled.Philadelphia rallied by scoring two runs off Bronson Arroyo in the seventh and four more in the eighth against Joe Thatcher and Trevor Cahill (1-5).Jeff Manship (1-0) allowed a hit and two walks in an inning and J

April 27, 2014

Kim Ki-tai has offered to step down as manager of the last-place LG Twins, the Korea Baseball Organization team announced. The Twins added they haven’t accepted his resignation offer, after Kim said he wanted to quit to take responsibility for the Seoul-based team’s slow start to the season. They said bench coach Cho Kye-hyun will serve as the interim manager.Kim didn’t appear for Wednesday’s game against the Samsung Lions, fueling speculation that he had either been fired or had resigned. The T

April 24, 2014

South Korean pitcher Yoon Suk-min got a no-decision in his fourth minor league start on Wednesday.Starting for the Norfolk Tides, the Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs on the road, the right-hander pitched five innings and allowed two runs, both unearned, on eight hits and two walks.Yoon left the game with the Tides up 4-2, but the IronPigs tied the score in the bottom of the eighth and won with a sacrifice fly in the ninth.Yoon remained at 0-3 with

April 24, 2014

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Heading toward the plate after the 500th homer of this career, Albert Pujols glanced ahead and saw a throng of Los Angeles Angels teammates waiting right there to greet him.He was pleased by the outpouring of support. He also had a message.“I was pretty emotional running the bases and when I ... looked at all these guys coming out, it was hard,” Pujols said. “But I just told them, ‘We’ve got a game to win.’”Not a problem, especially with Pujols hitting like the Pujols of old. C

April 23, 2014

OAKLAND, California (AP) ― Donnie Murphy lined a go-ahead single up the middle with one out in the eighth inning, and the Texas Rangers rallied from an early three-run deficit to beat the Oakland Athletics 4-3 on Monday night.Sean Doolittle (0-1) allowed a leadoff double to Kevin Kouzmanoff and Mitch Moreland sacrificed him to third before Murphy’s hit. Murphy and Kouzmanoff are both former A’s players.Neal Cotts (1-1) pitched one inning for the win, then gave way to Alexi Ogando before Joakim S

April 22, 2014

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Yasiel Puig hit a three-run homer and threw out a runner at second base, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers over the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-1 Sunday.Puig flipped his bat after connecting to cap a four-run sixth inning. His second homer of the season came after a two-out intentional walk to Adrian Gonzalez.Dodgers starter Josh Beckett pitched five innings of one-hit ball, striking out seven and walking two.Jamey Wright (1-0) got three outs for his 93rd career victory, spread over

April 21, 2014

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) ― Colby Lewis pitched into the sixth inning for his first win in nearly two years, Prince Fielder homered and the Texas Rangers beat the Chicago White Sox 6-3 on Saturday night.Lewis (1-1) struck out four while allowing only one run over 5 1/3 innings. The right-hander, the first known major league pitcher to return from a unique hip procedure, won for the first time since June 17, 2012.Choo Shin-soo and Alex Rios each had three hits for the Rangers, who won their fifth con

April 20, 2014

SEOUL/SAN FRANCISCO (Yonhap) ― Ryu Hyun-jin of the Los Angeles Dodgers picked up his third win of the young Major League Baseball season on Thursday after tossing seven shutout innings against the San Francisco Giants in his club’s 2-1 victory on the road.The South Korean left-hander held the National League West division rivals to four singles and one walk over seven frames while striking out three. He is now 3-1 with a 1.93 ERA and 25 strikeouts over 28 innings.This was his fourth scoreless ou

April 18, 2014

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) ― Prince Fielder ended his Texas home run drought, and Robbie Ross finally got some help from the offense as a starter.Fielder and Kevin Kouzmanoff hit back-to-back homers, Ross limited Seattle to five singles in seven-plus innings and the Texas Rangers beat the Mariners 5-0 Tuesday night.Fielder ended a 13-game homerless streak to start the season with a line drive to right-center field off former Texas first-round pick Blake Beavan (0-1) to lead off the second inning. Two

April 16, 2014

It’s been a long time coming for right-hander Lim Chang-yong of the Samsung Lions ― 2,408 days, to be exact.Recently released by the Chicago Cubs, Lim, who rejoined his former Korea Baseball Organization club before the start of this season, picked up his first win of the year on Sunday against the SK Wyverns.The Lions defeated the Wyverns 10-9, and Lim, 37, was credited with the win thanks to 1 2/3 innings of scoreless work in relief.Lim’s previous KBO appearance had come on Oct. 5, 2007, and h

April 14, 2014

PHOENIX (AP) ― Adrian Gonzalez must love it when he sees the word “Arizona” on the opposing uniform.Chances are he’s in for a big night.Gonzalez did it again Saturday night, hitting a two-run homer to help the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Diamondbacks 8-5.Zack Greinke (3-0) scattered eight hits but allowed one run in 5 1/3 innings for Los Angeles.Gonzalez, who had a two-run homer and five RBIs in the series opener Friday, followed that up with a shot to the left-field seats off Wade Miley (2-2)

April 13, 2014

In the ruthless what-have-you-done-for-me-lately world of professional baseball, players are frequently demoted to the minor leagues over the course of a season. In moves perhaps unique to the Korea Baseball Organization, coaches often join slumping players on the way down to the second-tier competition. It’s not unusual to see teams swapping their big club coaches with those from their Futures League.Rarer, even by South Korean standards, is a demotion of a coach just nine games into a season.

April 10, 2014