There don’t appear to be any easy games in the 2nd round of the WBC and the past weekend had a few cases of powerhouses coming out on the short end (Venezuela’s loss to Cuba yesterday, Puerto Rico’s demolition of the Dominican side later that evening), with yet another potential upset in the offing later tonight when Korea face Team USA.
(Seung Yeop Lee’s first inning 2 run HR off Rodrigo Lopez held up, as did my insistence that A.J. Soprano is now modeling himself after the Giambino instead of the other way around)
After sweeping all 3 games in Group A, including a 3-2 defeat of Japan last Sunday, Korea’s 2-1 win over Mexico late last night was a terrific display of varied pitching styles ; though Kevin Kennedy was heard to bemoan the lack of velocity from any of Korea’s hurlers, ex-Met Jae Seo acquitted himself nicely, holding Mexico to 2 hits over 5 innings.
Onetime human pinata Chan Ho Park collected his 3rd save of the tournament. While I doubt the Padres have any plans to move Park out of the rotation, nor do I think Trevor Hoffman’s job is in jeopardy, Park’s rep as an underachiever is being revised with each passing day.