The Doosan Bears of the Korea Baseball Organization secured their second consecutive victory, thanks to the stellar performance of 'homegrown ace' Kwak Bin in his first win of the season.
Doosan defeated the Kiwoom Heroes 3-2 in a home game at Seoul's Jamsil Stadium on the 15th.
After winning 4-1 against Kiwoom the previous day (14th) and achieving two consecutive wins, the ninth-place Doosan's record improved to 27 wins, 39 losses, and 3 draws (winning percentage .409). They successfully rebounded from five consecutive losses.
Doosan starter Kwak Bin pitched 7⅔ innings, allowing 6 hits (1 home run), with no walks, 3 strikeouts, and 2 earned runs to record his first win of the season. He allowed a two-run home run to Lim Ji-yeol in the sixth inning but did not concede any more runs in the remaining innings, signaling the return of the homegrown ace. His fastball reached a top speed of 153 km/h, complemented by a slow curveball that topped out at 117 km/h.
Kwak Bin, who had been sidelined due to oblique muscle pain before the start of the season, underwent rehabilitation for over two months. In his first appearance of the season on the 3rd against KIA at Jamsil, he pitched 3 innings, allowed 1 hit, 4 walks, 1 hit by pitch, 6 strikeouts, and suffered a loss with 3 earned runs. In his second appearance against Lotte on the 8th, he pitched 5 innings, giving up 6 hits, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts, and 2 earned runs, but faced the loss again due to lack of offensive support. However, he recorded his first win on this, his third appearance.
The Doosan lineup also provided adequate run support. In the bottom of the fourth, Oh Myung-jin faced Kiwoom's left-handed starter Jeong Hyun-woo and reached base with a ground ball that hit the first baseman and resulted in an infield hit. While Kiwoom's second baseman Jeon Tae-hyun made an error in fielding, Oh Myung-jin advanced to second base and then moved to third base on Yang Eui-ji's fly ball to center field.
Then, Kim Jae-hwan hit an RBI single to right field, scoring the first run of the game. At the plate of Jake Cave, Kim Jae-hwan made a surprise steal to second base. With two outs and a runner at third, Ki Dong-yeon's ground ball to third base resulted in an error by Kiwoom's third baseman Oh Seon-jin, allowing Doosan to score another run.
In the bottom of the fifth, Doosan added another run. Lead-off batter Jeong Soo-bin hit a single to left field and then sprinted to second base on a throwing error by pitcher Jeong Hyun-woo while trying to pick him off at first. Jeong Soo-bin scored on Oh Myung-jin's ground ball to second base, extending Doosan's lead to 3-0. Jeong Soo-bin and Oh Myung-jin both delivered multi-hit performances with 2 hits each.
Kiwoom narrowed the gap with a two-run home run from Lim Ji-yeol in the top of the sixth, but could not close the 1-run deficit. In the top of the eighth with 2 outs and a runner on first, Doosan's closer Kim Taek-yeon walked Lee Joo-hyung, but he induced a ground ball from Stone Garrett to escape the first and second base threat. Then, in the top of the ninth, after walking lead-off batter Won Seong-jun, Kim Taek-yeon struck out the next three batters in a row to finish the game, recording his 10th save of the season with 1⅓ innings of scoreless relief. He achieved double-digit saves for two consecutive years.
Kiwoom starter Jeong Hyun-woo took his second loss of the season (with 2 wins), pitching 4⅓ innings, allowing 6 hits, 1 walk, 1 strikeout, and 3 earned runs (none of which were unearned). Lim Ji-yeol had 2 hits including a home run but could not prevent the team's loss.
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