Royals' Dyson leads way in Caracas victory

Outfielder doubles, walks twice, scores twice against Margarita

Venezuelan Winter League

Caracas 3, Margarita 1

Royals outfielder Jarrod Dyson doubled, scored twice, walked twice and stole a base out of the leadoff spot for the Leones. Meanwhile, Cubs infield prospect Marwin Gonzalez collected three hits and the Mets' Josh Satin walked four times in five plate appearances. Another Mets farmhand, right-handed pitcher Dylan Owen, struck out six over five one-run innings.

Aragua 5, La Guaira 4

Marlins farmhand Darin Downs took a one-hitter through five for Aragua, but opponent and D-backs veteran Barry Enright one-upped him by taking a one-hitter through six. Major League veteran Raul Chavez doubled and plated two. Ehire Adrianza (Giants) paced the Tiburones with three hits, and Scott Van Slyke (Dodgers) went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.

Lara 8, Caribes 7

Luis Jimenez (Mariners) homered and drove in four for the Cardenales. Seattle's Jose Yepez doubled twice and had two RBIs. Balbino Fuenmayor (Blue Jays) hit a grand slam in the first inning for Anzoategui, and Luis Nunez (Yankees) knocked in two more with a bases-loaded single. Former Minor League Tomas Perez delivered a walkoff single in the 10th with the bases loaded.

Mexican Pacific League

Guasave 6, Culiacan 2

Rangers prospect Jose Felix homered and knocked in three runs for Guasave, while Mexican Leaguer Marshall McDougall also went deep and drove in two. Mauricio Lara, another Mexican Leaguer, tossed five shutout innings en route to the victory. Yankees prospect Jorge Vazquez drove in Culiacan's only runs with a two-run single up the middle in the sixth.

Mexicali 5, Mazatlan 3

Former Major Leaguer Oscar Robles led both teams with three hits, scoring once. Former Minor Leaguer Issmael Salas and former Major Leaguers German Duran and Geronimo Gil each collected a pair of hits. Minor League veteran Jon Weber had the strongest performance for Mazatlan, going 2-for-5 with two RBIs and a double. Five Mexicali relievers combined to toss four shutout innings to end the game, including long-time Major Leaguer Oscar Villarreal and Yankees Minor League switch-pitcher Pat Venditte.

Hermosillo 4, Obregon 3

Former World Series champion Erubiel Durazo collected a homer and two RBIs for the Naranjeros. Teammate and former Major Leaguer Henry Mateo recorded a game-high three hits, while fellow Mexican Leaguer Iker Franco plated a pair for the Yakis.

Navojoa 7, Mochis 4

San Diego farmhand Carlos Sosa and Mexican Leaguer Flavio Romero knocked in two runs apiece for the Mayos. Teammate Amadeo Zazueta, another Padres Minor Leaguer, went 4-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI. Former Major Leaguer Alex Cintron homered and drove in two for the Caneros.

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Venezuelan Winter League

•Hector Rondon (RP, Leones del Caracas): 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 0 K. Rondon’s winter league debut in his home country of Venezuela. You don’t like to see 2 walks in just 1.1 inning, but getting innings is all that matters at this point.

•Luis Valbuena (2B, Cardenales de Lara): 0-for-3, RBI, BB. Valbuena has started every game at 2B for his Venezuelan team this fall and is hitting .269/.345/.462 in 8 games.

Leones del Caracas

Leones tied for first place with the Magallanes

Outfielder Jarrod Dyson scored two runs, and shone on defense to lead the victory of Leones over the Tiburones

Caracas .-

................ Hector Rondon after missing last season, The Venezuelan professional baseball after receiving the Tommy John surgery in the throwing arm, returned to action last night with the cats and got the win . The prospect of the Cleveland Indians worked an inning and a third, in which no runs were scored or any hits surrendered. Edgar Martinez was defeated after allowing one run and two hits in two innings. The cats closer Josh Wilkie was awarded his second save of the harvest. Caracas is tied at the top of the standings with the Magallanes Navigators with 5-2 records.

[Rondon came into the game in relief to start the sixth inning and retired one batter in the seventh before reaching his pitch count and was succeeded by Orber Moreno.]

Valbuena focused with Lara Cardinals

Experienced a good 2011 with Cleveland, despite the "seesaw" and hopes to excel with Lara

Valbuena was marked as the best utility of the International League Triple-A

He received outstanding personal numbers, but by 2011 it was a year of instability for Luis Valbuena in U.S. baseball. Why? review the following transactions ...

The infielder native of Venezuela began the season with the Columbus Clippers, International League branch Triple-A Cleveland Indians. After a month and a half of action, on May 19 received a call from the big team. One day he was back in the minors.

This was only the beginning "of ups and downs" experienced during the entire harvest.

On July 8 Valbuena returned to the majors, but 13 days later he fell again. On August 19, returned to the roster of the Indians, but only for four days, before being reassigned again to Triple A. As if this were not enough, on 6 September he returned to the big show. "Yes, the truth is that this situation may may have had an affect on performance and focus," he says in Venezuela who plays for the Lara Cardinals. "But one must keep our feet firmly on the ground, not decaerte with so many changes and keep working hard every day to make adjustments."

Judging from their figures, Valbuena achieved his goal. Between Triple A and the majors had 136 hits in 463 at-bats (.294) with 18 homers and 76 RBIs in 130 games. He was also recognized as the best utility of the International League in Triple A.

He is now focused on achieving good things with his Cardinals. "The team is more united than last year. You notice the difference. We lost some games in the beginning, but we are not sorry about anything because we played well. We deliver in the field and should be," said Valbuena, who has no restrictions to play in Venezuela.

Juan Diaz continues to look great in the field but his offense leaves more than enough to be desired. With this evening's ballgame in the 8th inning, Diaz is hitless and looking for his first winter ball basehit. Juan now has 14 plate appearance without a hit.

Jerad Head (.261) has another basehit. So far, Jerad is 1-4 with a pair of strikeouts.

Luis Valbuena (.286) is 1-2 with a double and a walk. That game is in the 7th inning.

Leones has Rondon's arm

by HENRY ROLDÁN

Following the practice of the Leones del Caracas, before their meeting with the Caribes of Anzoategui, all eyes were directed to young Hector Rondon. The right hander for Caracas was placed this week on the roster of 34 and returns to action after a year and a half recovery.

Rondon, who had undergone an operation on his right elbow, left practice with much encouragement and a smile on his face, showing that satisfaction you feel when you return to pitch. "Right now I am not nervous, the nerves will start to hit me when in the bullpen when I come to throw after the operation. I am a bit nervous also about my new role. It is different from my previous role as a starter," were the first words of the Creole. And while it has been a long time away from the mound, he is focused on the game. "I come to compete, win and try to do my job, that's what you want and what they are going to expect," he said.

As to how I feel physically, he said he is not to be a hundred percent, but ready to help the team. "As such, I do not feel a hundred percent, because I come from a very difficult operation, but the speed is there. Some days you feel stress in your muscles, and that leads to an adaptation process that comes from working on your routines, but that's normal and I am available for manager Teufel. "

Regarding his role this season with the Lions, as mentioned at the beginning of the interview, Rondon said he expressed to the Cleveland Indians organization in the United States, he wanted initially to start in the bullpen. "They asked me if I wanted to be a starter or reliever and I told them ahead of an operation I would rather be a reliever for now, all this thinking about my future," said Rondon.

However, the native of Guatire said he accepted the decision of the Indians. "If they want me to be a starter, then I accept it, but now, because of the operation, I think it's better for me to be in the bullpen."

Likewise, said the hardest part of the long process of recovery was the mental part. "The hardest thing in recovery is to be strong mentally, physically it can work, but sometimes one comes to think of things that should not be and can be tricky at times," he said.

RESTRICTIONS

The Cleveland Indians are very aware of the recovery process of the right arm, so have asked a series of restrictive measures while with the Lions of Caracas, with respect to his performance in the current season. "If I throw one inning, I must rest one day, if I pitch two innings, I must rest two days. This for three weeks in order to comply. Then from there, depending on how I feel, things can change, "said 23-year player.

However, Rondon is clear that his work here is very important to him. "This is a very big opportunity for me because I have a chance to pitch at a high level with the Indians and playing here is very good for my arm. In a league as strong as this one, I can use this opportunity to strengthen my arm. "

Hold Your Horses

Patrick » 21 October 2011 »

A couple of days ago, a major news agency published a report stating that Yu Darvish has decided to pursue an MLB career via the posting system this offseason. The news was widely repeated and set off a wave of speculation.

Unfortunately it was a little premature. On the 19th, Darvish shot down the report on his personal blog. I’ve translated the entirety of his blog post below (hope he doesn’t mind):

Articles saying “Confirmed: Darvish to the Majors!” have been appearing since yesterday.

As I mentioned on Twitter

Nothing is decided!!

I haven’t decided anything for myself so nothing can be confirmed.(^_^;)

It was an article from the Kyodo News, but what did they base their writing on?

You can say this is freedom of press, but with freedom comes responsibility.

I want a press that takes responsibility.

Every year, when I haven’t decided anything, they write “Majors this, Majors that”, but then when I don’t go they just make up excuses.

How did they write lies and escape responsibility?

Well, after the entire schedule is over, I will carefully think it over!

As soon as I decide I will let everyone know(^^)v

(as always, if the Nihongo speakers in the audience see any issues with my translation, please feel free to let me know.)

So there we have it.

My best guess is that whatever information the original reporting was based on came from the Nippon Ham side. Team owner Hiroji Okoso has been quite chatty about Darvish lately, most recently commenting “for an ace of his stature, if he’s willing to stay we’d have to think about JPY 700m, no, JPY 1bn.” That’s quite a statement, as it would shatter the record for highest-paid NPB player.

There’s obviously huge interest in what will happen with Darvish, so the speculation won’t stop. But the only guy with real credibility on the topic is Darvish himself

Pennant Races Conclude

Patrick » 20 October 2011 » In npb »

Yesterday, NPB crowned two winners: Chunichi clinched the Central League title, and Seibu took the third and final playoff spot in the Pacific League.

My hat is way off to Chunichi, and manager Hiromitsu Ochiai for a well-deserved douage. I predicted before the season that this would be the year we’d see the Dragons finally stumble back into the B-class, but they proved me wrong, securing the first renpa (consecutive titles) in team history. Ochiai won with arguably less talent than any of his previous winners. The Dragons again sported a rather punchless lineup, but like the rest of the teams, the life was choked out of their standout bats by the new home run-limiting ball.

Chunichi dominated on the mound though, and while the Dragons feature some outstanding pitchers, the supporting cast played an important role. Six Dragons pitchers who appeared in 30 games or more have a higher number of games than innings pitched, suggesting that Ochiai played matchups aggressively. It’s a fitting, if unfortunate, conclusion to a remarkable eight-year run for Ochiai-kantoku.

The race for the third playoff spot in the Pacific League was the more compelling storyline for me, as it was the only thing that really amounted to a race down the stretch. Both Orix and Seibu played well enough in September to make things interesting, then cooled off a bit in October. Longer time readers of this site might not be surprised to find out that I was disappointed to see Orix lose the battle of attrition, choking away their hard-earned lead with a 3-9-1 October record.

Seibu’s 7-5-2 mark was solid enough to overtake Orix on the final day of the season. Looking back, the real pivotal point of the race was October 6, Seibu’s 2-1 walk-off win over Orix. Had the Buffaloes managed to take that one, they’d be looking ahead to the playoffs rather than the offseason. Of course, there wouldn’t have been a race at all had Seibu not played so horribly early in the year, and they have a much better roster and match up better with all of their prospective of playoff opponents.

The playoffs start on October 29. Bring ‘em on.

Wyverns, Giants set final game for Korean Series berth

It’s the final game, and the fierce battle between two of the country’s top baseball teams will come to a dramatic conclusion this weekend.

The SK Wyverns and Lotte Giants, which are tied 2-2 in the best-of-five playoff series, are set to play a final showdown Saturday at Busan’s Sajik Stadium.

If the Wyverns are going to reach the Korean Series for their fifth consecutive year, which will be the first time in the Korea Baseball Organization’s history, manager Lee Man-soo’s side requires one more victory to make it a reality.

“We’ll put our ace on the mound, and use all possible pitchers. We’ll play an all-out game,” Lee said. He noted that the Wyverns will bring out their ace Kim Kwang-hyun to start Saturday’s game.

The 23-year-old left-hander, who had a four-month hiatus due to injury, looked a bit rusty in the first game of the playoffs, allowing four runs on eight hits, including a home run, in 3 2-3 innings against the Giants.

But Lee believes Kim’s experience will prove to be the difference in the final game. Since his debut in 2007, Kim has helped the team advance to the Korean Series every year and win three league titles.
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Lotte Giants’ ace Song Seung-jun (left) and Kim Kwang-hyun of the SK Wyverns will take to the mound in the final playoff game on Saturday at Busan Sajick Stadium. (Yonhap News)

Meanwhile, the Lotte Giants, who aim to make it into the Korean Series for the first time in 12 years, will bring out their ace Song Seung-jun.

The 30-year-old veteran right-hander clinched a 13-10 win-loss record this season, and helped the team win the second tie against the Wyverns on Monday, allowing just one run on five hits in six innings.

The good news for the Giants is that their best hitter Lee Dae-ho now looks in good shape.

The 29-year-old slugger had a disappointing .167 batting average with just two hits in 12 at-bats in the last three games against the Wyverns.

But on Thursday in Game 4, Lee hit a solo home run in the sixth inning to shrug off worries over his recent form and help the team to a 2-0 win against the Wyverns at Incheon’s Munhak Stadium.

Thanks to the win, the Giants will now play the Wyverns one more time at their home Sajick stadium at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

The winner of the game will meet the 2011 regular season champions, the Samsung Lions, for the best-of-seven Korean Series, which kicks off on Oct. 24 at the Lions’ Daegu Stadium.

Marlins' Fermin homers twice for Estrellas

Catching prospect drives in five runs in 8-1 romp over Tigres

Dominican Winter League

Estrellas 8, Licey 1

Marlins catching prospect Miguel Fermin homered twice and drove in five runs as the Estrellas beat the Tigres to climb out of the cellar. Zoilo Almonte (Yankees) scored three times and Reds farmhand Jeremy Horst struck out four over 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief for the win. Former Major Leaguer Willy Aybar walked twice and drove in the lone run for Licey.

Escogido 5, Aguilas 3

Rangers outfielder Julio Borbon homered, tripled, drove in three runs and scored twice to lead the Leones to their third straight win. Former Minor Leaguer Edward Valdez retired all seven batters he faced for his second victory of the season.

Toros 6, Gigantes 5

Blue Jays farmhand Ricardo Nanita homered twice and drove in three runs as the Toros handed the last-place Gigantes their fifth loss in six games. Padres first baseman Anthony Rizzo and Dodgers prospect Alfredo Silverio also went deep for Este, while Texas League All-Star Jimmy Paredes (Astros) went 3-for-4 with a solo shot in a losing cause.

Venezuelan Winter League

Margarita 1, Caracas 0

Diamondbacks outfielder Collin Cowgill ended a pitchers' duel by singling home David Peralta in the bottom of the ninth inning. Dodgers farmhand Mike Parisi struck out five and allowed two hits over six innings for Margarita, while White Sox Minor Leaguer Joe Bisenius fanned seven and scattered five hits over six frames for the Leones.

Magallanes 5, Lara 0

Angels right-hander Jerome Williams gave up five hits and issued five walks over five innings but kept his ERA at 0.00 as the Navegantes grabbed sole possession of first place. Angels prospect Kole Calhoun slugged a three-run homer for Magallanes, while Orioles infielder Cesar Izturis singled and walked four times in his season debut for Lara.

La Guaira 15, Aragua 6

Mariners infielder Luis Rodriguez went 2-for-4 with four RBIs and scored twice to spark the Tiburones' 15-hit attack. Former Major Leaguer Terry Tiffee contributed four hits and Giants prospect Ehire Adrianza scored four times for La Guaira, while former Nationals Minor Leaguer Alex Nunez had three hits and a pair of RBIs for Aragua.

Caribes 3, Zulia 0

Former Marlins left-hander Renyel Pinto gave up two hits and struck out six over six innings as the Caribes handed the Aguilas their fourth straight loss. Angels outfielder Jeremy Moore went 3-for-5 with a solo homer and two runs scored for Anzoategui.

Mexican Pacific League

Mexicali 7, Guasave 1

Santiago Gonzalez hit a grand slam and former Major Leaguer Oscar Robles added a two-run shot, powering the Aguilas to their seventh win in nine games. Big league veteran Mike Jacobs contributed three hits for Mexicali, which got five solid innings from Ismael Castillo.

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Dominican Winter League

•Kelvin De La Cruz (RP, Aguilas Cibaenas): 0.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K. De La Cruz faced just one batter and hit him and then was promptly removed. His usage so far this fall has been interesting and almost like he is being used strictly as a loogy.

•Jerad Head (LF, Tigres del Licey): 1-for-4, 2 K. Head has played six games so far in the DR and has struck out in 6 of his 23 at bats.

•Juan Diaz (2B, Estrelles de Oriente): 0-for-4. Diaz gets some time at second base, a position he did not play all year. He has yet to record a hit in 15 at bats this fall.

Venezuelan Winter League

•Luis Valbuena (2B, Cardenales de Lara): 1-for-3, R, 2B, BB, K. Valbuena is getting a lot of playing time and is off to a productive start with a .276/.400/.483 batting line in 9 games.

Palmer, Caribes beat struggling Aguilas

Angels right-hander allows two runs, six hits over 5 1/3 innings

Venezuelan Winter League

Caribes 4, Zulia 3

Angels right-hander Matt Palmer allowed two runs and scattered six hits over 5 1/3 innings as the Caribes handed the Aguilas their fifth straight loss. Yankees farmhand Luis Nuñez had two hits, including a two-run single in Anzoategui's four-run third. Former Blue Jays Minor Leaguer Rodney Medina delivered a two-run single off the bench for Zulia.

Aragua 6, Caracas 1

Marlins farmhand Alex Romero went 2-for-3 with two doubles, a pair of walks and two RBIs as the Tigres shut down the Leones. Former Orioles Minor Leaguer Rosman Garcia got the start for Aragua and gave up two hits over 4 2/3 scoreless innings. Indians farmhand Raul Padron drove in the lone run for Caracas.

La Guaira 3, Margarita 1

White Sox infielder Eduardo Escobar had both hits for the Tiburones, who scored three times in the ninth inning to beat the Bravos. Phillies Minor Leaguer Les Walrond pitched 6 1/3 solid frames for La Guaira, which took advantage of three errors, a hit batter and a walk in the decisive rally. Diamondbacks right-hander Kevin Mulvey pitched six shutout innings for Margarita.

Mexican Pacific League

Hermosillo 7, Culiacan 5

Indians farmhand Jason Rice pitched two scoreless innings for his second save, nailing down the Naranjeros' victory over the Tomateros. Former Reds Minor Leaguer Jesse Gutierrez went 4-for-5 with a pair of homers, four RBIs and three runs scored for Hermosillo. Big league veteran Luis Cruz had two hits and drove in a pair of runs in a losing cause.

Obregon 9, Los Mochis 8

Former Braves farmhand Barbaro Canizares capped a five-RBI night with a grand slam in the eighth inning as the Yaquis rallied past the Cañeros. Minor League veteran Doug Clark went 2-for-2 with two walks, two RBIs and two runs scored for Obregon, while Cardinals prospect Jermaine Curtis had two hits, drove in a run and scored once for Los Mochis.

Mexicali 7, Guasave 5 (12 innings)

Issmael Salas homered twice and drove in four runs to help the Aguilas outlast the Algodoñeros. Pinch-hitter Antonio Lamas and former Minor Leaguer Chris Roberson lifted sacrifice flies in the 12th for Mexicali, while ex-Padres farmhand Jesus Lopez homered, singled and scored twice for Guasave.

Mazatlan 10, Navojoa 1

Ex-big leaguer Ruben Rivera homered, doubled and drove in four runs as the Venados pulled away for their second straight win. Former Florida State League MVP Brandon Sing hit his league-leading sixth homer for Mazatlan, which got two doubles, two RBIs and two runs scored from Oswaldo Morejon.

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Rob Bryson (RP, Bravos de Margarita): 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K. Bryson with a perfect outing with 6 batters up and 6 batters down. His first appearance in over a week as he last appeared in a game on October 14th.

Raul Padron (1B Leones de Caracas .261): 1-for-4, 2 b,1 rbi, 1 K. Padron played his 8 games at first base for Caracas. 6-for-23, 4 r, 1 2b, 1 hr, 3 rbi, 3 w, 4 k.

Luis Valbuena (2B, Cardenales de Lara): 0-for-3, 2 w, 1 k.

Jason Rice(RP, Naranjeros de Hermosillo): 2 SV, 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. Rice appeared in 4 games for the Naranjeros so far this season: 4 g, 2 sv, 4.1 inn, 0.00 era, 1 h, 0 r, 0 w, 3 k, .071 ave.

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Cleveland Indians Designate Jason Rice For Assignment

Sep 13, 2011 7:56 PM EDT in MLB Transactions & Trades
The Cleveland Indians designated right-handed pitcher Jason Rice for assignment, the club announced. The move was made in order to make room on the 40-man roster for right-handed pitcher Zach Putnam. It was only last week the Indians acquired Rice.

The name "Jason Rice" might seem familiar, being he's been traded once, acquired off waivers once, and now designated for assignment twice - all this year. Rice will wait on the waiver wire, hoping to join his fourth team of the year. Otherwise, he'll be looking at a minor league assignment and off the 40-man roster.
Rice, 25, is posting a 3.69 ERA, 9.4 K/9, 4.4 BB/9, 0.6 HR/9 across 85 1/3 innings of work in the International League (Triple-A). He hasn't thrown since August 30, before he was sent to Oakland (then Cleveland soon after).

The right-handed reliever Zach Putnam will take Rice's 40-man roster spot. Putnam, 23, is posting a 3.65 ERA, 8.9 K/9, 3.0 BB/9 in 69 innings for Class Triple-A Columbus.

Dominican Winter League

Escogido 6, Gigantes 2

Pirates outfield prospect Starling Marte doubled, singled twice and drove in a pair of runs as first-place Escogido improved to 4-0 at home. Braves farmhand Wilkin Castillo had three singles for the Leones and Rangers right-hander Carlos Pimentel fanned three over two perfect frames to notch his first victory.

Aguilas 14, Estrellas 2

Juan Carlos Perez ripped three doubles and Rockies backstop Wilin Rosario drove in four runs as Aguilas pounded visiting Estrellas. Starter Alexander Carreras allowed one hit and one walk while fanning four over six scoreless frames.

Toros 5, Licey 4

Former Mets prospect Salvador Paniagua delivered a two-out two-run walk-off double in the ninth inning as Toros edged visiting Licey. Infielder Danny Richar homered and scored two runs to hand Licey its fourth consecutive defeat.

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Juan Diaz, SS, Estrellas Orientes): 0-for-2. Juan Diaz drew the collar once again. Diaz's hitless streak is now up to 17 at bats. For the season, Diaz is now 0-17. Today, he was removed from the game in favor of pinch hitter Leury Bonilla who went on to replace Diaz at shortstop.

Moises Montero, C, Estrellas Orientes): 0-for-2. Moises Montero made his winter ball debut today and was hitless in two tries. Montero entered the game as a pinch hitter for Miguel Fermin and remained in the game relieving Fermin at the catcher's position.

Jeremy Head): 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 H, 1 HR, 1 RB!, 1 W. Jeremy Head launched his first homer of the winter ball season and hitting .269 on the season.

10-23-2011 18:53

Wyverns advance to Korean Series over Giants
SK Wyverns slugger Park Jung-kwon celebrates after hitting his second two-run homer in Game 5 of the second round playoffs against the Lotte Giants at Sajik Ballpark, Busan, Sunday. / Yonhap

By Yoon Chul

SK Wyverns slugger Park Jung-kwon has been called the “man of the postseason” and he proved this once again.

Park hit two two-run home runs in an 8-4 win in Game 5 of the best-of-five second round playoffs at Sajik Ballpark, Sunday, putting the Wyverns into the Korean Series against regular season champion, the Samsung Lions.

The Wyverns, the defending champions, reached the Korean Series for the fifth consecutive season while the Giants exited in the second round of the playoffs for the second straight season.

As decider of the second round was postponed to Sunday due to rain, the best-of-seven Korean Series was also pushed back one day and will start Tuesday.

Looking at the result, the Giants manager Yang Seung-ho’s decisions to substitute pitchers appeared to be wrong.

Meanwhile, Wyverns interim manager Lee Man-soo pulling ace Kim Kwang-hyun to the dugout after he stumbled in the first inning worked out with Brian Gordon pitching 3 2/3 scoreless innings.

The Busan-based team was the first to score.

Leadoff hitter Kim Joo-chan hit a triple and Jeon Joon-woo’s RBI-double gave the Giants a 1-0 lead.

The Giants had another chance to score when Lee Dae-ho was walked. But Giants captain Hong Sung-heon ended the inning by hitting a ground ball for a double-play.

In the fourth the visitors cooled down the home fans.

After Choi Jung recorded his third hit of the game, Park went to the plate. Giants starter Song Seung-joon tried to pitch fastball into the low inside but it went slightly to the middle and Park didn’t miss, sending the ball over the right fence for a 2-1 lead.

The Wyverns didn’t miss any chances in the fifth.

Giants starter Seong Sung-joon stepped down from mound after pitching 4 2/3 innings, and Jang Woon-joon, who pitched four scoreless innings for a 2-0 win in Game 4, Thursday, came in.

As Jang had an extra day’s rest thanks to the postponement the Giants expected him to occupy the mound longer but he collapsed allowing three consecutive hits and one run.

The next reliever Chris Bootcheck’s wild pitch allowed the third base runner home for the Wyverns fourth score.

Wyverns slugger Park made the home side desperate in the sixth hitting another two run homer for a 6-1 lead.

The Giants, however, didn’t back off.

With runners on first and second after a hit and a walk, captain Hong hit an RBI-double and catcher Kang Min-ho also smashed a two-run double to trail 6-4.

The Incheon-based team ran away from the Giants’ in the eighth.

Without a single out the Wyverns occupied first and second following a hit and an error. Giants second reliever Kim Sa-yul allowed the runners to the next base on a wild pitch and Ahn Chi-yong and Kim Kang-min hit an RBI-single and -double for the victory.