Overcoming a 2-point gap → Captain completes 4 consecutive wins… The national hitter said, “It was a day filled with luck.”
The Doosan Bears, who are on a 4-game winning streak, are trying to continue their upward trend in their trip to Gwangju.
Doosan, led by coach Lee Seung-yeop, will play the 13th game of the season against the KIA Tigers of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Gwangju-KIA Champions Field on the 15th. The starting pitcher is Brandon Waddell.
The day before, Doosan achieved a 3-2 comeback win in the home game against SSG Landers. The score was 0-2 until the top of the 9th inning, but in the bottom of the 9th inning, leadoff hitter Yang Seok-hwan’s hit and Yang Eui-ji’s ball hit SSG closing pitcher Seo Jin-yong, and when Yu-chan Lee, who was at bat instead of Kim Jae-hwan, made a sacrifice bunt, second base runner Park Ji-hoon was on third base. Force out.
However, after Seo Jin-yong’s wild pitch, when Kang Seung-ho’s ground ball to the shortstop with one out and runners on second and third base, third base runner Kim Tae-geun hit home, narrowing the gap to one point. Doosan, not satisfied with chasing, had the bases loaded with two outs after pinch hitter Kim In-tae’s walk and Park Gye-beom’s intentional fourth pitch, and when Seo Jin-yong’s wild pitch, third base runner Yoo-chan Lee scored to balance the score at 2-2. Heo Gyeong-min, who had an important role in Cho Soo-haeng’s at-bat, brought in runner Kim In-tae on third base with a walk-off single, completing the team’s four-game winning streak.
Coach Lee Seung-yeop said before the KIA game, “It always feels good to win,” and “Because (the opportunity) was created by the opponent’s mistake, I thought I would at least try to tie the game somehow. (With no outs on first and second base) If the batter is Kim Jae-hwan, it will be a comeback. Considering that, it would have been right to just leave it alone, but I wanted to put a runner on third base in scoring position and rely on Kang Seung-ho behind me. With a ground ball and a wild pitch, I think it was a lucky day for our team,” he said, recalling the game from the previous day. .
He continued, “I left it for last, and I was preparing to use Heo Gyeong-min as a pinch hitter when that batting order came.” He added, “That batting order was the timing (pinch hitter), and fortunately, the batting order came back and Heo Gyeong-min hit an excellent hit as the captain.” I applauded.
Heo Gyeong-min was excluded from the starting lineup in the Jamsil Hanwha Eagles game on the 12th and the SSG game on the 14th due to a right hand contusion, but his condition has improved significantly. Coach Lee Seung-yeop said, “I had some bruising and swelling, but I heard there are no problems at all now. In fact, I could have started the day before, but I have to go into the game in a completely good condition. Since I believe I am in a completely good condition (now fully recovered), I was told that there is no problem at all. “I will play as a starter,” he said.
I also didn’t forget to mention Choi Ji-gang, who is doing a great job in the bullpen. In the match against SSG on the 14th, Ji-gang Choi took the mound as the fourth pitcher following starters Seung-yong Choi (5 innings, 1 run), Myeong-shin Kim (1 inning, no runs), and Hong Geon-hee 안전놀이터(1 run in ⅔ innings), and pitched 1⅓ innings without allowing any runs, setting the stage for a comeback victory. prepared. If you look at his performance since being called up to the first team on the 27th of last month, he is pretty good with 1 win in 5 games and 6⅓ innings. He did not allow a single earned run.
Manager Lee Seung-yeop said, “He did his job brilliantly. I think almost 90% of them were breaking balls. Fortunately, it may have been Yang Eui-ji’s ball combination, but Choi Ji-gang is also a pitcher who has a very good pitch, so whoever the batter is, if he throws his own ball, he is a pitcher who can be easily targeted. No. If the results improve, you will definitely gain confidence and become a player who can grow to the next level,” he said. “Park Chi-guk was out and Kim Kang-ryul was also decided to rest for one more day, so Choi Ji-kang pitched well and is in good condition. He praised Choi Ji-gang, saying, “The players who were not good were able to rest.”Meanwhile, Doosan, which is trying for its 5th consecutive win against Young-cheol Yoon, is Soo-bin Jeong (center fielder), Jae-ho Kim (shortstop), Seok-hwan Yang (designated hitter), Eui-ji Yang (catcher), Jae-hwan Kim (left fielder), Seung-ho Kang (first baseman), and Gyeong-min Heo (third baseman). -Park Gye-beom (second baseman) -Cho Su-haeng (right fielder) formed the lineup in that order. Manager Lee Seung-yeop explained that foreign hitter Jose Rojas, who was unable to play all week due to the aftermath of COVID-19 infection, can play as a pinch hitter.