Professional baseball player Doosan Bears Lee Yong-ha (28) secured his first victory of the season by holding off crucial 7th and 8th innings.
On the 2nd, Lee entered the game against Kiwoom Heroes in the '2025 Shinhan Bank SOL Bank KBO League' at Seoul's Jamsil Stadium, recording 2 innings, 1 hit, 5 strikeouts, and no earned runs.
With both teams tied at 3-3 in the top of the 7th inning, Lee took the mound in place of starting pitcher Choi Seung-yong and allowed a hit to lead-off batter Kim Tae-jin. However, he struck out both Kim Jae-hyun and Lim Byeong-wook swinging and allowed a wild pitch, leading to 2 outs and a runner on second base. He also registered a swinging strikeout against Yasiel Puig, but catcher Yang Eui-ji failed to catch the ball, allowing Puig to reach first base, creating a crisis with 2 outs and runners on first and second. Despite this, Lee remained steady and ended the inning by getting Lee Joo-hyeong to fly out to center field.
In the 8th inning, Lee faced the heart of the Kiwoom lineup, consisting of Ruben Cardenas, Song Seong-moon, and Choi Joo-hwan, and recorded a 1-2-3 inning. Doosan scored 2 runs in the bottom of the 8th to succeed in turning the game around at 5-3, and in the top of the 9th, closer Kim Tae-gyeon entered the game and finished cleanly against three batters. Lee became the winning pitcher, achieving his first victory of the season.
After the game, Lee commented in an interview, "Right now, it might be called a setup, but I don't think that's my role. I always had the burden of losing after giving up a home run on opening day. If we had won that game, our ranking wouldn't have dropped this low. I could have started on a better note, so I feel regret. I think this victory has relieved some of that burden. Still, since we are not at the ranking we want yet, I will do my part and work as hard as I can."
Doosan has struggled with pitcher management since before the season began, with starting pitcher Kwak Bin and bullpen pitchers Hong Gun-hee, Lee Byeong-heon, and Choi Ji-gang suffering injuries. Lee said, "The bullpen and starters are not at their best because of injured players. However, I believe the remaining pitchers are doing really well. Our first goal was to not give up too many runs and keep the games competitive until the end. So far, I think we've been doing well."
Lee took the mound in the opening game against SSG on the 23rd of last month when Doosan was ahead 5-4 in the bottom of the 8th. However, he allowed a game-changing two-run home run to Oh Tae-gon, and in the end, Doosan had to start the opening game with a painful comeback loss. At that time, Lee threw only fastballs, totaling 11 pitches, including the one that led to the home run.
"I threw 11 consecutive fastballs during the process of giving up that home run in the opening game," said Lee. "I had a lot of concerns about when to use the slider. I thought I could set up a favorable ball count and use the slider in a count where I could get a strikeout, but I slipped up at first. Actually, even when I gave up the home run in the opening game, Yang Eui-ji signaled for a slider, but I rejected it and threw a fastball. I wanted to throw a slider after getting to 2 strikes. Yang later told me that since the slider was so good, if I used it right away, it would catch them off guard again. So I am trying to throw with confidence as much as I can, and it has been leading to good results."
Lee will be eligible for free agency at the end of this season. "If the team finishes 10th or 9th, then free agency has no significant meaning," he said, emphasizing, "The team must finish in as high a position as possible for my evaluation to improve. The team's ranking is always a priority." He added with a smile, "Of course, I do think about it during workouts." Lee said, "But I try not to think about it as much as possible. Especially on the mound, I focus on the battle with the batter."
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