Cardinals' Oh Seung-hwan collects 6th win of season vs. Reds

SEOUL, Sept. 30 (Yonhap) -- The St. Louis Cardinals closer Oh Seung-hwan has earned his sixth win of the season despite blowing a save opportunity.

The South Korean gave up one earned run and two hits in the top of the ninth inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on Thursday (local time). However, he was credited with the win in the end when the Cardinals scored a game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth to collect a 4-3 victory.

Oh is now 6-3 with a 1.94 ERA. He has 18 saves in his rookie season in Major League Baseball.

Oh took the mound with the Cardinals leading 3-2. The right-hander surrendered a double to the Reds' leadoff Ramon Cabrera after center fielder Randal Grichuk failed to make a catch on a long fly ball. Oh then struck out Jose Peraza, swinging on a 93-mph four-seam fastball.

Oh retired Hernan Iribarren on a ground ball, but Cabrera advanced to third on the play. Facing pinch-hitter Scott Schebler, Oh allowed an infield single and gave up the tying run. It was his fourth blown save of the season.

Oh closed the inning by fanning Adam Duvall on a slider.

The Cardinals, however, broke the 3-3 deadlock right away to seal the victory. Yadier Molina smashed a double into the left-field corner with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to drive in Matt Carpenter for the winning run.

At 83-76, the Cardinals are now half a game behind the San Francisco Giants in the race for the second National League wild-card spot.

Elsewhere, Kim Hyun-soo of the Baltimore Orioles stayed hot against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Batting second and playing left field, Kim went 2-for-4 with one RBI, one walk and a run scored against the Jays. His batting average went up from .305 to .307 after the Orioles beat the Jays 4-0.

Kim had a pinch-hit, two-run home run in the top of the ninth inning Wednesday to lift the O's to a 3-2 win.

Kang Jung-ho of the Pittsburgh Pirates went 0-for-2 against the Chicago Cubs in his final home game of the season.

The game at PNC Park in Pittsburgh was called because of rain with the score 1-1 in the top of the sixth inning. It was the first tie game in the major leagues since 2005.

kdon@yna.co.kr
(END)