In the match between Kiwoom and KIA held at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on the 16th, a luxury pitching match took place.
Both teams’ starting pitchers recorded Quality Start Plus.
Kiwoom starter Choi Won-tae blocked the KIA lineup with 4 hits, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts and no runs in 8 innings.
Choi Won-tae pitched 8 innings for the first time in 1824 days since he lost 9 innings and 1 run in Gocheok NC on April 18, 2018.
He recorded a maximum velocity of 149 km and evenly pitched fastballs (14), curves (11), sliders (23), changeups (9), and two-seam fastballs (25) enough to keep the mound up to 8 times with a total of 82 balls. mixed
KIA Yang Hyeon-jong also struggled hard, but was unable to achieve 160 personal wins. Yang Hyeon-jong, who threw 104 pitches in 7 innings, allowed only 3 hits and 3 walks to Kiwoom’s other line. He struck out nine times. He pitched mainly with fastballs (54) and sliders (35). Other than this, he threw a changeup (12) and a curveball (3) decently.
Yang Hyeon-jong also achieved 7 or more scoreless innings in 910 days after recording 8 scoreless innings against LG in Jamsil on October 18, 2020.
However, the batting line of both teams was seldom burst, and the two pitchers could not decide the game. The win or loss was only decided in the 10th inning. Victory was up to Kiwoom. Lee Jung-hoo finished the game with a two-run home run in the bottom of the 10th inning.
Kiwoom swept all three weekend matches against KIA and achieved a sweep series 280 days after the Gocheok NC match on July 8-10, 2022.스포츠토토
Choi Won-tae came to the mound as a midfielder in the Korean Series last year and gained a great realization. He moved to the bullpen for a while, but in the 5th game, he suffered the pain of being hit with a walk-off 3-run home run by Kim Kang-min. Choi Won-tae, who said, “I still remember the game at the time,” said, “The middle pitchers are really struggling, and I thought that the starting pitchers should throw at least 5 innings with a real sense of responsibility. And he is playing baseball with great appreciation.”
Choi Won-tae is continuing his good pitching this season with this mindset. On this day, he posted only 1 win in 3 games including the game, but allowed only 4 runs in 19 innings and recorded an average ERA of 1 point (1.89).
Even though he fought hard that day, he was not able to win, but Choi Won-tae calmly evaluated his game. He said, “I threw a lot of fastballs in the last game, so the effect of the two-seam fastball was not good, but today (16th) I threw a lot of two-seam fastballs and saw a good effect. The number of pitches also decreased. He analyzed that it was effective to use the changeup as a deciding ball.”
He also did not forget to mention his senior Yang Hyeon-jong, who had a good match with him. Choi Won-tae said, “I am personally honored to have a good match with senior Yang Hyeon-jong.”
He was able to complete pitches due to the small number of pitches, but Choi Won-tae said, “I trusted the second pitcher, Kim Jae-woong, and the team was on a winning streak, so I thought the team victory was more important than personal greed.”
Towards Choi Won-tae, director Kiwoom Hong Won-ki said, “Choi Won-tae pitched perfectly until the 8th inning. He controlled the number of pitches well and played long innings with aggressive pitching. Lee Ji-young’s lead, which he put together, was also excellent,” he praised.