With all three games of this weekend’s series featured on ESPN, try to check out first place NC Dinos take on Doosan if you get the chance. NC took the first game fueled by three straight bunts in the eighth inning. Second place Kiwoom lost 8-6 snapping its win streak at eight games while hosting Kia and Samsung leapfrogged Lotte in the standings winning in extra-innings on the road against the Giants. 

As for individual accolades on Friday, one cannot ignore the season by Mel Rojas Jr. of the KT Wiz. He launched his 16th home run during a loss and not only leads the KBO in the category, but through 46 contests leads in each component of the Triple Crown with 46 RBI and a .383 batting average. Plus:

 

Part of the allure of the KBO lies in its unbridled joy in playing the game from bat flips, to pitchers tipping their hats when hitting a batter and even the umpires:

 

A full slate of games on Friday yielded some other top performances of note. 

Starting Pitcher Spotlight

Geon-wook Lee of SK hurled six hitless and shutout innings needing only 90 pitches giving up three walks and striking out three inducing some ugly swings:

 

Trying to retool his arsenal, Lee lowered his ERA this year to 2.78 and in his seventh start won his second game while recording his second quality start as well. 

Tae-in Won of Samsung received a no-decision working 6.2 innings allowing five hits, one earned run and one walk with three strikeouts. His bullpen let him down but Won’s stuff continues to improve this year:

First, his slider:

 

And his change-up:

 

Won finishes June with a 2-1 record and a 2.85 ERA over 28.2 innings. 

Quality start machine Warwick Saupold notched his eighth in 2020 in 10 starts along with winning his fifth game logging six innings yielding seven this, three earned runs and a walk with six strikeouts. Saupold moved to 5-4 with a 41:11 K:BB in 64.1 innings this season. 

Fueled by his offense, Drew Gagnon registered his fourth win, throwing 5.1 innings giving up eight hits, three runs (two earned) and two walks with three strikeouts. 

Hitter Highlights

NC Dinos

  • Min-woo Park (2B) - Racked up three hits including a triple, drove in three runs and scored once during five at-bats. 

  • Eui-ji Yang (C) - Reached three times in four plate appearances with two hits and a walk. 

  • Aaron Altherr (OF) - Went 2-for-3 with three runs, a double, an RBI and stole his eighth base. 

Kia Tigers

  • Hyung-woo Choi (DH) - Blasted his eighth home run among three hits including a double driving in four runs. Choi’s hit safely in nine of his last 10 contests and homered in back-to-back games. 

  • Joo-hwan Na (3B) - Tallied three hits with a double, his fourth home run and two RBI in five at-bats. This marks his third consecutive multi-hit game. 

Hanwha Eagles

  • Yong-kyu Lee (OF) - Recorded three hits in five at-bats with a run and a double. 

  • Eun-won Jung (2B) - Heating up again with two more hits, a run, RBI and walked. Jung’s on a modest five-game hit streak with multiple hits in three of them. 

  • Tae-kyun Kim (1B) - Went 2-for-4 with a run and two RBI. He’s hit safely in five of his last six games driving in six runs in them. 

  • Sung-yeol Lee (DH) - Added two hits in four at-bats with three RBI. 

SK Wyverns

  • Jeong Choi (3B) - Reached twice on two walks and scored two runs despite going hitless in two at-bats. 

  • Jamie Romak (1B) - Cracked his eighth home run among two hits driving in three while scoring two runs. Romak’s heating up hitting safely in six of his last seven contests with two home runs and seven RBI in them. 

Kiwoom Heroes

  • Keon-chang Seo (2B) - Entering this game with a career .313 average, Seo went 4-for-5 with a double, triple, a run scored and swiped his 11th base. After a mini-slump early this month, Seo may be on the precipice of a hot streak. 

  • Ha-seong Kim (SS) - Finished 1-for-4 with an RBI, walked and stole his seventh base. 

  • Jung-hoo Lee (OF) - Went 2-for-5 with a run and a double. Lee’s second in the KBO in batting average (.382). 

  • Jeong-hyeop Heo (1B) - Hit his third home run driving in three and walked in five plate appearances.

  • Hye-sung Kim (SS) - Added his fifth home run, a solo shot during a 2-for-5 game. 

Samsung Lions

  • Hak-Ju Lee (SS) - Staying hot, Lee went 3-for-5 with a run, double, two RBI and stole his third base. He’s recorded seven multi-hit games his last 11 played and hitting .329 this month with 14 RBI. More intriguing, Lee hit cleanup for Samsung in this contest. 

  • Sang-su Kim (2B) - A pinch hit double in the 10th provided his team with the go ahead run en route to a win over Lotte. Kim also scored. 

  • Sung-gon Lee (1B) - Blasted his first home run going 2-for-3 with an RBI. 

Lotte Giants

  • Hoon Jung (2B) - Went 1-for-4 with a run, double and walked. 

  • Jun-woo Jeon (OF) - Launched his ninth home run driving in two in five at-bats. 

Doosan Bears

  • Kyoung-min Hur (3B) - Remained at leadoff going 2-for-4 on Friday. 

  • Jose Miguel Fernandez (DH) - Finished 2-for-4 with a run, double and an RBI. 

  • Jae-il Oh (1B) - Shaking off some rust, Oh recorded three hits in four at-bats with an RBI. 

After all five games played without any weather concerns, here’s the updated standings:

 

Be sure to stay with Fantasy Alarm across all formats to remain ahead of the competition and be well. 

 

Statistical Credits

Eng.koreabaseball.com

myKBOstats.com