Sports Briefs

BASEBALL

Cardinals pitcher Oh keeps on winning in the MLB

Saint Louis Cardinals setup man Oh Seung-hwan continued his eight shutout game spree on Sunday.

Oh tossed a perfect inning during the Major League Baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at the Cardinals’ home Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri. Throwing 13 pitches, Oh gave up no hits and no runs while striking out two batters. His fastball velocity hit as high as 93 miles per hour.

Oh went to the mound in the top of the eighth inning and struck out the Diamondbacks’ Phil Gosselin. With an even count, Oh’s 92-mile-per-hour four seam fastball left Gosselin frozen on the plate, who saw the ball drive through the strike zone and past him. The next batter, Jean Segura, flied out and last batter Brandon Brury was struck out swinging before Oh was replaced by Cardinals closer Trevor Rosenthal. The Cardinals defeated the Diamondbacks 6-2.

As of May 22, Oh has collected a 1.19 earned-run average with 31 strikeouts over 21 games.

While Oh was throwing a perfect inning, Pittsburgh Pirates slugger Kang Jung-ho was having a tougher time at his team’s home stadium PNC Park, going 1-for-3 against the Colorado Rockies.

Kang had a double at the bottom of the fourth inning off a 91-mile-per-hour four seam fastball by Tyler Chatwood, but two plays later, he unsuccessfully tried to drive a run home after Matt Joyce grounded a single and was called out. Kang stepped off the field before the sixth inning due to pain in his finger. The Pirates lost to the Rockies 1-5.

FOOTBALL

Manchester United manages to take home 12th FA Cup

Manchester United of English Premier League (EPL) grabbed its 12th FA Cup on Sunday.

During the 135th FA Cup final on Sunday at Wembley Stadium in London, Manchester United played through extra time against Crystal Palace to finish 2-1, matching archrival Arsenal with the most FA Cups for a single club. This year’s FA Cup is also the first for the Manchester team since 2004 and something of a surprise at that, considering how much Manchester United has been struggling under the leadership of Louis van Gaal.

Crystal Palace scored the opening goal when Jason Puncheon used his left foot to shake the left corner of Manchester United’s net. But the team kept its spirits alive and bombarded Crystal side with relentless attacks to equalize the match only three minutes later. Wayne Rooney’s cross found Marouane Fellaini in the middle and Fellaini quickly connected the ball to Juan Mata who drove the shot in with his left foot.

In the extra time, Manchester United was in a pinch with defender Chris Smalling called out of the game. But the team wasn’t going to let the odds get the best of them and exploited every opportunity they could find to win the game. Their efforts paid off when Jesse Lingard scored the game winner five minutes into the second half of the extra time with a volley off his right foot.

By Choi Hyung-jo