Sports Briefs

BASEBALL

Wyverns third baseman Choi Jeong hits 300th home run

Choi Jeong of the SK Wyverns hit his 300th career home run during a game against the Hanwha Eagles at Munhak Baseball Stadium in Incheon on Sunday. The Wyverns lost 5-2.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Choi hit a solo home run off of a Kim Min-woo fastball over the left fence. With the homer, Choi became the 11th player in the KBO to hit 300 career home runs and also became the second youngest player in the league to get to 300. Lee Seung-yuop, formerly of the Samsung Lions, is the youngest to hit 300 career home runs, at age 26.

Choi is the second third baseman in the KBO to achieve the milestone and the third Wyverns players to do so. Of the three, Choi is the only one to have played exclusively for the Wyverns during his career.

The home run on Sunday also put Choi atop the league’s home run standings, at 29, for the season.

“I achieved a record but I’m disappointed that our team lost [the game on Sunday],” Choi said. “It’s an honorable achievement. I think it’s a reward for my hard work throughout my career. Since I still have a long ways to go, I’ll continue to work hard and play well.”

During the same game, Kim Tae-kyun of the Eagles also reached a significant achievement by getting his 2,000th career hit.

Oh Seung-hwan throws two scoreless innings in loss

Oh Seung-hwan of the Toronto Blue Jays tossed two scoreless innings during a game against the New York Yankees at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada on Sunday. Despite Oh’s scoreless pitching, the Blue Jays lost the game 2-1

While the score was tied at 1-1, Oh took the mound at the top of the eighth inning as the Blue Jays’ second pitcher of the game. Throughout two innings, Oh gave up a hit while striking out one to lower his ERA from 3.15 to 3.00.

The game ended one inning after Oh left the mound. Tyler Clippard took the mound, and gave up a run to the Yankees.

After playing nine seasons in the KBO, Oh left to Japan in 2014 and then joined the MLB in 2016. Prior to joining the Blue Jays this season, Oh played two seasons for the St. Louis Cardinals. This season with the Blue Jays, Oh has picked up four wins, three losses with two saves.

GOLF

Kevin Na wins first PGA Tour victory in nearly seven years

After almost seven years without a win, Kevin Na of the United States picked up his second PGA Tour victory at the Greenbrier Classic at the Old White TPC in West Virginia on Sunday.

Na, who started the final round one shot behind co-leaders Harold Varner and Kelly Kraft, shot six under par, 64, in the final round for a five-stroke victory ahead of runner-up, Kraft. Though Na started the round tied for third, six birdies in the first 10 holes allowed him to take a big lead.

“I tried not to think about winning,” Na was quoted as saying on the PGA Tour website. “Obviously it seems like I’ve always tried too hard. I mean, how do you say you tried too hard? What is the difference, the fine line between trying too hard and letting it happen? It was just one of those days that I felt great over the ball, and everything was going in.”

This is Na’s first win since the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in October 2011. With the win, Na moved up 24 spots in the World Ranking, to 41st.

Of the Korean golfers at the tournament, Whee Kim was the top finisher, tying for 74th with a score of one over par.

By Kang Yoo-rim