The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) debut of foreign pitcher Ariel Hurado for the Samsung Lions marked his first complete game shutout, while the '7 billion won free agent' Choi Won-tae celebrated his first scoreless outing after his transfer. Behind their performance was the excellent game-calling of catcher Kim Jae-sung.
Hurado tasted the joy of his first complete game shutout since his KBO debut in the match against the NC Dinos in Daegu on the 8th. He held the mound until the 9th inning, allowing two hits and two walks, but finished the game without allowing any runs. He also recorded six Samjin.
On that day, he threw a total of 97 pitches, with 67 strikes recorded. His maximum speed was clocked at 151 km/h, and he mixed various pitches including curveballs, sliders, two-seam fastballs, cut fastballs, and changeups.
Samsung secured a 1-0 victory over NC, led by Hurado's perfect pitching, concluding the weekend series with two wins and one loss. Manager Park Jin-man praised, "Today's victory was due to the perfect collaboration between starting pitcher Hurado and catcher Kim Jae-sung."
Kim Jae-sung remarked, "This was my first time working with Hurado, and I really got the impression that he is smart. He observes the reactions and movements of opposing batters well. I learned a lot, too."
On the 10th, Choi Won-tae, who took the mound as a starter against the KIA Tigers in Gwangju, achieved his fifth win of the season with a scoreless performance of six innings, allowing two hits, three walks, and striking out seven. Choi stated through the club's official YouTube channel, "(Kim) Jae-sung led well, so I feel good to have thrown a scoreless game."
Choi Won-tae, who faced a tough outing against the SSG Landers on the 4th, where he pitched 5⅓ innings, allowing seven hits, one walk, and four runs, recalled the situation, saying, "I think I tried to rush things too much. So today, I efficiently used my curveballs and changeups." He added, "Jae-sung gave good signs, and thanks to that, I managed my mentality well. He told me not to worry too much about not hitting the target. We did well as friends."
Kim Jae-sung, who worked with Choi Won-tae, said, "Everything came together as I wanted, and his stuff was good. I discussed being aggressive in our approach with Won-tae. I told him not to stress too much about hitting singles against a batter who could hit a home run. Even if we get a hit, we just need to focus on getting the next batter out, so we should approach aggressively."
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