Cardinal's Oh Seung-hwan earns 3rd save of season

SEOUL, July 21 (Yonhap) -- Oh Seung-hwan of the St. Louis Cardinals earned his third save of the season with a perfect inning of work.

The South Korean reliever shut down the San Diego Padres in the ninth inning to preserve a 4-2 victory at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on Wednesday (local time). It was the first game of a doubleheader -- their game set for Tuesday had been rained out.

The right-hander is now 3-for-3 in save opportunities since taking over from struggling former All-Star closer Trevor Rosenthal.

This was Oh's first appearance since last Friday, when he suffered his first major league loss. The clean inning on Wednesday lowered Oh's ERA from 1.75 to 1.71.

Oh relieved Kevin Siegrist to start the ninth, with the Cards holding on to a 4-2 lead and the heart of the Padres' lineup due up. Wil Myers, the No. 3 hitter, grounded out to second on an 83 mph slider. Oh then struck out Yangervis Solarte swinging on a 1-2 changeup.

Oh capped off his perfect day by striking out Melvin Upton Jr., this time with a slider on a 2-2 count.

jeeho@yna.co.kr
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