Professional baseball pitcher Choi Won-tae, who is having the best year of his career, pitched a perfect game in his first game in a striped uniform. The LG Twins, looking to return to the top after a 29-year hiatus, got their man.
Choi Won-tae 홀덤사이트 pitched six innings of two-hit ball against the Doosan Bears at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Tuesday, leading the team to a 10-0 victory. With his seventh win (four in a row), Choi lowered his season ERA to 3.07 and jumped to ninth in the league.
It was literally a no-hitter. It started with a two-pitch strikeout of leadoff hitter Jung Soo-bin in the first inning. Choi then faced 14 batters until the bottom of the fifth inning and didn’t allow a single run. A hit by Kang Seung-ho broke up his perfect game and no-hitter, but he retired the side in order in the sixth inning. He only threw 75 pitches.
LG fans’ thirst for a reliable homegrown starter was quenched once and for all. The only weakness of the season for LG, which was always ranked as a 0 favorite to win the title, was the starting pitching. There was the issue of foreign ace Casey Kelly’s declining performance, but the lack of success of highly anticipated young guns like Kim Yoon-sik, Lee Min-ho, and Kang Hyo-jong was more painful.
The previous day had put an end to the rumors of signing a starting pitcher. The team officially acquired Choi Won-tae through a trade with Kiwoom Heroes. With a 6-4 record and a 3.25 ERA in 17 games, he had been performing as well as any homegrown ace.
The other side of the deal was not small. For infield/outfield utility Lee Ju-hyung, pitcher Kim Dong-gyu, and a first-round pick in next year’s rookie draft. That’s three prospects, two second-rounders and a potential first-rounder.
However, Choi Won-tae proved his worth 100 percent in his debut for LG. After using six bullpen arms in the previous day’s extra-inning game, they only needed three, half that number.
The batting lineup responded with hot support. They exploded for seven hits and five walks against Doosan starter Brandon Waddell, who had been impregnable with a 0.87 ERA in five games prior to this one. Riding a four-game winning streak, LG held off a late charge from second-place SSG Landers to take the lead.
Meanwhile, Kiwoom, who lost Choi Won-tae, suffered the misfortune of losing a starter early for the second straight game, falling 6-10 to the bottom-ranked Samsung Lions. Starter Jang Jae-young self-destructed after giving up one hit and five walks while striking out two, and was eventually ejected after a pitch hit Kim Ji-chan in the head.
The fifth-ranked KT Wiz defeated the fourth-ranked NC Dinos 5-2 behind a two-run homer by Kim Min-hyuk. Both teams are now winless. The KIA Tigers moved into sole possession of sixth place with a 6-3 win over the Lotte Giants behind a four-hit, four-RBI performance from their cleanup trio.