Photos & Text by Emil Guillermo
It was Korean Night at AT&T Park, but the festive drumming and dancing couldn’t wake a dormant offense for the San Francisco Giants.
It did provide some inspiration for Cincinnati Reds lead-off star Shin-Soo-Choo.
(pictured right)
He’s No.1 among all leadoff hitters in either league in HR, walks, and on-base-percentage. And after ending a 16-game hitting streak on Tuesday, he started a new one Wednesday with a double in the first inning. Advancing to third on a grounder, he scored on a Joey Votto sacrifice fly, and the Reds were up 1-0, just like that.
Going into Wednesday night’s game, the Reds were relentless, banging out 42 hits and 23 runs against the hapless Giants.
The Reds didn’t let up. They scored three more times in the third, and twice in the fourth, and before the inning was over Giants pitcher
Chad Gaudin (pictured left) was pulled with the score 6-1.
And it wasn’t over.
In relief came young Jake Dunning, whose mother is Korean.
Dunning got the Reds out with the bases loaded to end the inning, and his job was done. In the bottom of the 4th, in a unique Asian for Asian American move, Kensuke Tanaka was sent into pinch hit for Dunning. Tanaka hit a slow grounder to third.
The Giants had 10 hits by the 6th inning themselves, but they added up to just one run.
The Reds by comparison continued to demolish Giants pitching with 11 hits and 7 runs.
Reds manager Dusty Baker (pictured below) had reason to beam.
Overall, Baker let his former team have it this week.
After being hospitalized last year, for heart issues, and what has been called a “mini-stroke,” the former Giants skipper was looking trim.
“I’m not vegetarian,” he said. “I like that Filipino food too much.”
His wife, Melissa Baker, who grew up in San Francisco, and whose family is from the Ilocos Norte region of the Philippines, was sitting close by the Red’s dugout with her cousin, Vivian Agudelo.
Baker confirmed, Dusty likes his pinakbet despite the temptations of Cincinnati chili.
His team? They were satisfied just feasting on Giants pitching all week. And it wasn’t just Lincecum the other night. It was the whole staff.
The Reds are that good. Final score Reds 8 Giants 3.
Veteran journalist Emil Guillermo takes a break from the news with his Linceblog, covering baseball and the San Francisco Giants. He writes for the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, (www.aaldef.org/blog) and at www.amok.com