2012.5.22 WEEKLY GLANCE

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2012.5.22 WEEKLY GLANCE

The Nexen Heroes, the last-place finishers in the KBO last year, are stirring things up in the league with an unexpected dominant start.

The Seoul-based ball club swept its three-game series against the Lotte Giants and the defending champion Samsung Lions last week, moving up from fifth to second place in the standings.

Dominant performances have come on both ends of the inning. While their offense has produced 48 runs over the last six games with a 0.324 batting average - both weekly bests in the league - the Heroes’ pitching also maintained a 2.33 ERA.

The six-game winning streak ties the franchise’s longest run since 2008 and the Heroes will look to make history this week when they meet another Seoul-based team, the LG Twins, at Jamsil Stadium tonight and the Hanwha Eagles at Mokdong Stadium on Friday.

In previous encounters this season, the Heroes have beaten the Twins four times while dropping one game. The Twins are also in good form, collecting five wins and one loss last week.

The Eagles are currently at the bottom of the standings, but have league’s No. 1 batting average (0.280), thanks to Kim Tae-kyun, who is currently the only hitter in the KBO batting above 0.400 (0.451).

Kim also leads the league in hits and on-base percentage and will match up well against the Heroes’ batter Kang Jung-ho, who leads the league in home runs (13), RBI (32) and slugging percentage (0.741).

Former Major League Baseball All-Star and current Heroes pitcher Kim Byung-hyun made his KBO starting debut on Friday against the Lions and failed to earn his first win. Although the submariner collected six strikeouts, he gave up three runs in 4 2/3 innings.

While the Heroes had a great week, the Doosan Bears suffered. The Seoul-based team collected only one victory last week and plunged from second to fifth place in the standings.

The team has lost its last five games, but ending the losing streak will not be easy as the Bears face the league No. 1 SK Wyverns and No. 4 Giants this week. Both teams are on three-game winning streaks.
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