Ryan Sadowski

BUSAN, South Korea - The Lotte Giants had a horrible homestand this week, getting swept by Nexen and looking awful while doing it. The Giants were outscored 26 - 3 in the series, and were blown out in every game.

Ryan Sadowski’s (0-2) struggles continued as he is nursing a stomach virus, and was rocked for six runs and two homers in four innings in the opener as the Giants lost 9-2. Son Ah-seop was the lone bright spot going 3-4 at the plate.

Things didn’t get much better on Tuesday, when Nexen scored five in the second off starter Shane Youman (3-2) as the Giants lost 8-0. Youman struck out four in six innings but gave up seven earned runs in the loss.

Nexen used a six run fifth in the finale to blow open the game and swept the series with a 9-1 victory. The Giants only mustered five hits in the game, and fell a game below .500 and dropped to fifth place.

BUSAN, South Korea -- American pitcher Shane Youman tossed a one hitter Sunday, leading the Lotte Giants to a 5-0 win while taking two of three games at home this week against the LG Twins.

Youman (3-0) pitched his first nine-inning shutout of his career, striking out seven in a dominating performance from the mound. Giants catcher Kang Min-ho hit a two-run homer in the eighth to seal the win for Lotte, who are at the top of the standings early on in the 2012 season.

"The defense played a great part in today's win, and the Lotte fans were great," Youman said after the game.

GWANGJU, South Korea - The Lotte Giants finished the week on top of the standings, despite two games being postponed by the terrible rains that hit the peninsula this weekend.

Friday nights game was the only one that managed to play, with Lotte taking the game 11-7. The Giants pounded 16 hits and managed to survive some early struggles from starter Ryan Sadowski. Sadowski lasted only 4 1/3 innings, as his early season struggles with control hit once again, allowing five hits and nine walks, while striking out three. Kim Su-hwan (1-0) pitched 2/3 of an inning for the win, while Kim Sa-yeol pitched the ninth for his fourth save.

BUSAN, South Korea -  The Lotte Giants split a three game series with the Doosan Bears this weekend, by losing the opener, tying the second game and winning the rubber match.

On Friday, Lotte’s batters only managed to muster four hits, as they lost 6-1. Hong Seung-hoon gave Lotte an early lead with his first homerun of the season, but Song Seung-joon (1-1) was tagged for four runs in 6 ⅔ innings.

Lotte blew a chance to win Saturday, as closer Kim Sa-yeol gave up a sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth, and played to a 3-3 tie after 12 innings. Ryan Sadowski pitched six innings, giving up five hits and two runs while striking out three and Lotte scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth to take the lead.

BUSAN, South Korea - The Lotte Giants, traditional slow starters, got off to a great start by sweeping the Hanwha Eagles in a two game series at home on the weekend.

On Saturday, Cho Seung-hwan hit a homer in his first at-bat of the season, and added runs in the third, fifth and eighth inning to win their home opener 4-1. Song Seung-joon (1-0) pitched 5 ⅓ innings while striking out three, and Kim Sa-yeol finished off Hanwha in the ninth for his first save.

Sunday's game didn't start off well, as Hanwha scored five early runs off starter Ryan Sadowksi, but Lotte's hitters responded with 15 hits and a seven run outburst in the fourth inning to beat Hanwha 10-5. Sadowksi only lasted one batter into the fourth, giving up six hits, and five runs , but only three of them earned. Lee Yong-hoon (1-0) pitched 2 ⅓ innings of relief for the win.

BUSAN, South Korea - The Lotte Giants finished off a disappointing spring season, losing their sixth game in a row, 9-2 to SK.

Ryan Sadowski (1-2) was tagged for four runs in six innings of work, most of the damage coming in a five run seventh inning for SK. He also struck out two, while giving up seven hits. Ahn Jung-gwan cracked a grand slam off of Lee Seung-ho in the seventh to break the game wide open.

Kim Ju-chan led Lotte with two hits.

DAEGU, South Korea - The defending champion Samsung Lions showed they will be a force to reckon with again this season, scoring five runs in the first two innings en route to a 5-2 win over the Lotte Giants in Daegu Tuesday.

Choi Hyung-woo hit his second homer of the spring, a two run shot off Ryan Sadowski (1-1) in the first, while Samsung batters knocked secen hits off Sadowski in his four innings of work. He struck out two.

Kim Ju-chan went 2-4 for Lotte, who had problems hitting off Yoon Sung-hwan (1-0) who pitched seven innings of two hit ball. Lotte scored two runs in the ninth, but it was not enough for them to fall to their second straight defeat.

DAEJON, South Korea - The Lotte Giants exploded for six second inning runs, en route to an easy 9-2 win over Hanwha.

Lotte pounded Hanwha import Brian Bass for eight hits in two innings of work, including five consecutive hits. Jung Bo-myung finished the attack in the eighth inning with a two run homer. Jung Hoon also had two RBIs.

Lotte starter Ryan Sadowski pitched 4 2/3 innings for the win, giving up two runs on six hits, while striking out one in 58 pitches. Song Seung-joon also threw three shutout innings, striking out three.

BUSAN, South Korea - Yes, it is hard to believe, but it is almost baseball season again. And if the Lotte Giants hope to contend in 2012, they are going to have to deal with the likes of last year's champions, the Samsung Lions, the much improved Hanwha Eagles and their familiar foes, the SK Wyverns. Lotte has had a busy offseason, most notably with the loss of slugger Lee Dae-ho to the Orix Buffaloes of the Nippon Professional Baseball League, but they have been making moves on what has been considered their weakness for the past few years – the pitching staff.