ST. LOUIS -- The most striking thing about Jung Ho Kang's first Major League home run wasn't how hard and far he hit it -- and it was darn impressive on both counts -- but how relatively slow Trevor Rosenthal had thrown the pitch he hit.
Rosenthal, the Cardinals' closer, is a fireman both in job description and stuff. The scouting reports on Rosenthal, the only thing Kang had seen before stepping into the batter's box to face him in the ninth inning Sunday, doubtlessly boldfaced his near-100-mph fastball.
So Rosenthal tried to throw off Kang by throwing an 87-mph curve as his first pitch of the inning, and Kang sent it 418 feet into the left-center bleachers.