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Cardinals’ Oh Seung-hwan allows first home run

March 17, 2016

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Seung Hwan Oh, of South Korea, throws a bullpen session during spring training baseball practice Sunday, Feb. 21, 2016, in Jupiter, Fla. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Cardinals reliever Oh Seung-hwan’s hitless and scoreless streak came to an end Thursday.

By The Korea Times Los Angeles staff

St. Louis Cardinals’ Korean reliever Oh Seung-hwan suffered his first rough outing Thursday in Florida against the Detroit Tigers. He was tagged for three straight hits, including a home run for the first time in the U.S.

The 33-year-old right-hander entered the game in the third inning with a runner on first and two outs to face switch-hitting catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia. The man with the longest last name in the Major League is considered to be a good hitter for a catcher with 98 career home runs, but Oh got him to ground out to second to end the inning.

But things quickly changed when he was sent out to the mound again to start the fourth inning. After getting Nick Castellanos to fly out to right, Oh was rocked by Nate Schierholtz, who’s probably competing for a pinch-hitter’s job with the Tigers.

Oh had not allowed a hit or a run this spring over 5 innings before Schierholtz’s line drive went over the right field fence.

It took Oh a little bit of time to recover, as he allowed three straight hits, but fanned light-hitting Anthony Gose (a career .243 hitter) for the second out, and got Justin Upton to ground out to first baseman to get out of the inning without further damage.

After making five appearances to pitch 5 2/3 innings this spring, Oh’s spring earned run average (ERA) stands at 1.59 with two strikeouts.