Professional baseball player Na Gyun-an of the Lotte Giants achieved his first victory as a starter of the season in his 13th start. With a new pattern, Na Gyun-an secured a confident win with quality start pitching.

Na Gyun-an started the game against the Hanwha Eagles in the '2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League' regular season on the 19th at Busan Sajik Stadium, pitching 6 innings with 88 pitches, giving up 4 hits, 2 walks, and striking out 6 without allowing any runs, leading the team to a 4-3 victory. This win marks Na Gyun-an's second victory of the season and his first as a starter.

In the first inning, after 2 outs, he allowed a single to Moon Hyun-bin but got Roh Si-hwan to ground out to the shortstop to escape the inning. The second inning was a three-up, three-down. In the third inning, he got into trouble. After striking out the leadoff batter Choi Jae-hun, he allowed an infield single off a misplay by Lee Do-yoon. He then gave up a clean single to Lee Jin-young on the first pitch. However, with 1 out and runners on 1st and 2nd, he faced Ahn Chi-hong, who hit a ball that looked like a double down the line, but third baseman Kim Min-sung made a diving catch to get the lead runner out at 2nd. He then had first baseman Go Seung-min catch a ball hit down the first base line by Moon Hyun-bin. With consecutive great defensive plays, he escaped the third inning crisis.

In the fifth inning, he allowed a double to left field by the leadoff batter Hwang Young-mook and a walk to Choi Jae-hun. He got Roh Si-hwan to hit into a groundout to the third baseman and struck out Lee Jin-young to set up 2 outs with runners on 2nd and 3rd. However, he walked Ahn Chi-hong, creating a bases-loaded situation with 2 outs. Facing the hottest hitter from Hanwha, Moon Hyun-bin, Na Gyun-an attempted to induce a swing and miss with a forkball at 1 ball and 2 strikes, but he failed. However, he threw another forkball at 2 balls and 2 strikes and recorded a swinging strikeout. Na Gyun-an celebrated with a roaring ceremony, fueled by adrenaline.

In the sixth inning, he returned to strike out Roh Si-hwan, get Chae Eun-seong to pop out to the catcher, and catch Lee Do-yoon's fly to center field, completing the quality start.

After the game, manager Kim Tae-hyoung praised, “The starter Na Gyun-an showed stable mound management with 6 innings of no runs and quality start pitching, playing a crucial role in today's victory.”

After the game, Na Gyun-an greeted the press with a look of relief as he felt the joy of his first victory as a starter. He said, “I pitched 6 innings today, and the manager praised me by saying ‘You pitched well,’ so I think I feel good.” He added, “The day before yesterday (the 17th), I had a strain in my back while throwing catch. Thanks to the coach and the manager’s consideration, I was able to push this back by one day and rest, which helped me pitch well today.”

I was able to overcome some key moments thanks to my defense in the third inning. He said, “When (Kim) Min-sung made the catch, it felt really good. And when (Go) Seung-min got the catch, I was just flabbergasted. I thought, can defenders really help like this? I should express how good I felt, but it didn’t even matter, I was just really happy.”

On this day, Na Gyun-an pitched a fastball with a peak speed of 148 km/h and an average of 145 km/h, throwing 33 fastballs, 28 cutters, 24 forkballs, and 3 curves. He effectively utilized all his pitches, moving away from just using fastballs and forkballs. Partnering with Park Jae-yeop, Na Gyun-an cooked the Hanwha batting lineup with a variety of pitches.

Na Gyun-an trusted Park Jae-yeop, with whom he was catching for the first time. He said, “(Park) Jae-yeop didn’t show any signs of nervousness today. I think I was the one who was more nervous.” He added, “Jae-yeop asked a lot of questions and discussed many things, which helped in my pitching during the game.”

He continued, “Before the game, I told Jae-yeop, ‘I trust you, and do what you want to do. I will follow your lead, and I will only shake my head when it's really not the right call. I will take responsibility if you hit a home run, so do it as you want.’” He mentioned that he was conscious of a forkball-dominant pattern and that Jae-yeop suggested throwing a lot of good pitches while we still had strength before the game. He reflected that in order to showcase his main weapon, the forkball, he had to mix in other pitches, and it seems that Jae-yeop understood this and executed well.

The highlight of the day for Na Gyun-an was when he struck out Moon Hyun-bin in the fifth inning. Regarding that pitch combination, he said, “Since I threw a forkball once, I figured that if I threw it again, there would be a definite swing. I thought, ‘let’s try and hold off for one more,’ so I mentally asked for a sign for a forkball, and Jae-yeop was also thinking the same and signaled for a forkball. That’s why I threw it with even more confidence, and I had a conviction and confidence that I would get the strikeout.”

On the 11th, he earned a relief win against KT and eventually achieved his first starting victory. He commented, “There was a little mental strain about not getting a starting win. Every time I stepped on the mound, I felt pressured. That might have contributed to the worse results. Now if I set my mind to it and prepare well, I think I can ride the momentum for good results.”

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