“He showed the form of a national ace”
The Doosan Bears avoided the humiliation of a sweep and snapped a three-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over the Lotte Giants in the 11th game of the 2024 Shinhan Bank SOL Bank KBO League at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul, South Korea, on Monday.
Both teams traded blows early in the game. It was Doosan who struck first, as Jung Soo-bin and Heo Kyung-min drew back-to-back walks against Lotte’s “Ace of Glasses” Park Se-woong to put runners in scoring position in the top of the first inning. After Henry Ramos and Kim Jae-hwan were silenced with consecutive strikeouts, it looked as if the chances were over, but Yang Seok-hwan took advantage of Park’s slider for a three-run shot to left field.
Lotte answered right back. In the bottom of the first inning, with the bases loaded, Go Seung-min singled to shortstop. It appeared to be an error, but the scorekeeper gave Go Seung-min an infield hit. Jeon Jun-woo then pulled a 148-kilometer fastball from Doosan’s “native ace,” Kwak Bin, over the left-center field fence for a chasing two-run home run to put Doosan on the ropes.
One powerful punch after another, the tide turned 180 degrees. A flawless pitching battle. Lotte’s Park Se-woong struck out five straight batters from the second through the sixth inning to become the 35th pitcher in KBO history to reach the 1,000-strikeout plateau, and though his perfect game was interrupted in the seventh inning, he held the Doosan bats in check without much of a threat. He then pitched the eighth inning on 92 pitches and was more than up to the task, striking out Jeon Min-jae, getting Kim Ki-yeon to ground out to first 파워볼실시간 base and Cho Soo-hyun to fly out.
Kwak Bin did the same. After giving up a run in the first inning, Kwak-Bin shut down the Lotte bats with two strikeouts in the second inning, and then retired the side in order in the third. He gave up a single in each of the fourth and fifth innings, but cruised through them without any damage, cooking the top of the order of Ko Seung-min, Jun-woo Jeon, and Victor Reyes in the sixth. He then returned to the mound in the seventh on 94 pitches to retire Na Seung-yeop on a fly ball to left field, Yoon Dong-hee on a foul fly to first base, and Choi Hang on a pitcher’s choice to earn a Quality Start+ (7 innings, 3 earned runs or less).
In a pitcher’s duel that didn’t go down without a fight, it was Doosan who had the last laugh, as after starter Kwak Bin did his job and left the mound, Lee Young-ha came in and held Lotte to just three hits, and in the ninth inning, Kim Taek-yeon, who had thrown 29 pitches the day before, came in to shut down Lotte’s offense and preserve the precious win.
Coach Lee Seung-yeop said after the game, “The entire team came together as one and showed their determination to end the losing streak. Starting pitcher Kwak Bin showed his national ace-like form with 112 pitches. It was a harmonious combination of various changeups, including his main weapon curveball and slider, centered on a heavy fastball.” He gave a thumbs-up to the Korean ace’s pitching.
“The next two pitchers, Lee Young-ha and Kim Taek-yeon, did not give up a run and kept the lead at one run. In the batting lineup, captain Yang Seok-hwan hit a valuable three-run homer in the first inning to lighten (Kwak) Binyi’s shoulders.” ”Despite being on a losing streak, many fans traveled to Ulsan to show their support. We are always grateful to them,” he said.