The KT Wiz suffered an unexpected setback. The Doosan Bears were able to easily snap their seven-game winning streak. What happened.
Doosan won the first game of a doubleheader against KT 12-4 at Jamsil Stadium on Wednesday. The victory extended Pajuk’s winning streak to seven games and pushed the Bears closer to the top of the standings. They are now within striking distance of the first-place KIA Tigers. What a turnaround.
On the flip side, KT, which had come back to life with a five-game winning streak, saw its momentum stall with a second straight loss against Doosan.
It was too much for KT to handle. The starting matchup of the day was between Doosan’s Choi Jun-ho and KT’s Benjamin. While the rookie Choi Jun-ho has been garnering attention for his aggressive pitching, Benjamin has been on a roll lately, winning four straight games, so KT was expected to have the edge.
In the top of the first inning, KT seemed to take control of the game. KT manager Lee Kang-cheol made an aggressive move by batting Rojas in the top of the order for the first time in nearly six years. It seemed to work. Rojas grounded out to shortstop, but his forward placement allowed Kang Baek-ho and Moon Sang-cheol, batting second and third, to hit back-to-back home runs off Choi Jun-ho.
Benjamin faced runners on second and third in the bottom of the first, but when he struck out the hard-hitting Yang Ji-hyeon, it looked like KT would take the lead.
But the unexpected happened in the bottom of the second inning.
Benjamin’s command of his pitches and command of his mechanics changed drastically. He gave up a leadoff walk to Yang Seok-hwan and a double to Kim Jae-hwan. After two pitches against Ramos, he was quickly checked by the trainer. Even manager Lee Kang-cheol was on the mound to check on Benjamin, and the decision was made to pull him. He felt discomfort in his elbow. It’s a long season, and we can’t overdo it to protect our players.
The problem was that none of the pitchers were in a position to warm up. Son Dong-hyun came out in a hurry, but his pitches weren’t catching. He just kept throwing the ball. 안전놀이터 He gave up three walks and singles to Heo Kyung-min and Kang Seung-ho. In the meantime, Joo Kwon, who had warmed up quickly, came in and got Yang Ji and Yang Seok-hwan out, but the water had already been spilled. Through gave up five runs.
The momentum of the winning streak was fully realized, and KT was forced to give up the game.
Doosan added to its lead in the third inning with a Ramos RBI double and a sacrifice fly by Kim Dae-hyun.
Doosan added an RBI single by veteran Kim Jae-ho in the fifth and a run-scoring double by Heo Kyung-min and a two-run single by Yang Ji in the seventh to take the wind out of KT’s sails. KT seemed to be preparing for the second game of the doubleheader by pulling its starters from the sixth inning, while Doosan also brought in backups to save the day as the score grew. KT was only able to add two runs in the top of the eighth inning, thanks to the difficulties of new pitcher Lee Young-ha. Doosan didn’t let their guard down, and Yoon Jun-ho’s RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning showed that they wanted to continue their momentum in the second game of the doubleheader.
Choi Joon-ho, who had been rattled by two home runs in the first inning, was able to relax with the help of a sudden bullpen and run support. Six innings, two runs. He pitched great except for the first inning. It was an emotional first professional win and first quality start. He was a first-round pick last year, but after rehabbing from elbow issues, he’s finally realizing his potential this year.