Chan-Ho`s Seventh Victory Full of Fighting Spirit

Park Chan-Ho (28, LA Dodgers) earned the victory thanks to the help of the active offenders. But as the pain in his back was back, the fans had to get nervous.

Park achieved his seventh victory yesterday with three consecutive wins in game with Arizona Diamondbacks at Bank One Ball Park.

Park overcame a muscle spasm in his back with strong mental strength, and finished his duty as a starter during 7 innings with 6 strikeouts, 5 hits (two home-runs), and 3 ER.

The Dodgers offense exploded from the beginning of the game against the Arizona pitchers with 5 home runs, Grissom (1st inning, solo), Green (2nd inning, three-run), Beltre (2nd inning, solo), Goodwin (4th inning, two-run), and Lo Duca (6th inning, solo).

As LA Dodgers snapped Arizona`s nine-game winning streak, Dodgers are now chasing Arizona by two-game differential.

The second inning was the critical moment for Park. As he felt the pain in the back after throwing the fourth pitch against Mark Grace of Arizona, the game was suspended shortly. Enduring the pain, Park convinced the coaching staff to let him remain in the game.

During the second and the third innings, he has made a `standing pitch` throwing only by arm without using the whole body, but he escaped the critical moment with the smart pitching which has induced the ground balls.

It only mattered whether Park could pitch until the fifth inning required to be a winner. But as he was becoming relax due to the hot weather, he has shown the normal pitching performance since the fourth inning. Park kept the mound until the seventh inning with 133 pitches in total. He allowed two home-runs in the fifth and the sixth innings, and a timely hit in the seventh inning, but they were not relevant with the decision of the game.

This victory was meaningful for Park in the various senses. He not only cracked his jinx at Bank One Ball Park where he had recorded three losses and 12.66 ERA, but won the first win after three consecutive losses in the away games. He earned the seventh victory first among the team colleagues-Kevin Brown (6 wins) and Luke Prokopec (6 wins), and became have an advantage to be selected as a All Star member.

He recorded 7 wins and 4 losses, and 2.86 ERA, and is supposed to take a mound in a game with Anaheim Angels on 10th at the Dodgers stadium.

Meanwhile, due to the big differential of the score, the encounter with Kim Byung-Hyun could not be made.

Kim Sang-Soo ssoo@donga.com