The blue-blooded ace put his head down.
Won Tae-in of the Samsung Lions took the mound for the fourth game of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League against the Lotte Giants at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on Monday. Prior to the game, it was announced that Won had been named to the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games team. It’s a day that feels better than ever.
Won, who is 3-3 with a 4.17 ERA in 10 games this season, has been on a roll lately with two consecutive quality starts (six innings or less). He has good memories against Lotte this season. On April 16, he earned his first win of the season with 6.2 innings of one-run ball. It was also the day he recorded his first QS of the season.
In the first inning, he struck out Kim Min-seok on a wild pitch. He gave up a double to Jun-woo Jeon and a walk to Jack Rex to put runners on first and third, but got Yoon Dong-hee to fly out to center field to end the inning. In the second, he gave up a leadoff single to Ko Seung-min, but retired the next three batters in a row. In the third inning, he retired the next three batters in order.
In the fourth inning, Lacks grounded out to first base, but back-to-back singles by Yoon Dong-hee and Ko Seung-min put runners on first and second. He then gave up a walk to Park Seung-wook to load the bases. Won Tae-in was stronger in crunch time. He hit Kim Min-soo into a shortstop-2b-1b double play. 먹튀검증
In the fifth inning, there was another crisis. After one out, Kim Min-seok singled to center, Jeon Jun-woo singled to right, and Ahn Chi-hong made a throwing error to shortstop Lee Jae-hyun, allowing another bases-loaded threat. Eventually, Rex singled to center. A wild pitch against Yoon Dong-hee allowed Jeon Jun-woo, who was on third base, to come home. It didn’t end there. Despite retiring Yoon Dong-hee, he gave up another double to Ko Seung-min to extend the lead to four. Only after Kim Min-soo struck out swinging did the long fifth inning end. He threw 46 pitches in the fifth inning alone.
That was it for Won Tae-in. In the top of the sixth inning, the Samsung bench pulled Won and brought up Woo Kyu-min. Won pitched five innings, allowing four runs (one earned) on eight hits, three walks and three strikeouts. His ERA dropped to 3.98 from 4.17. We’re in the 3-run range.
What if he could have gotten a no-hitter to end the inning, or at least a strikeout to get the next batter out of the inning, Won could only hang his head in shame, having thrown nearly 50 percent of his 104 pitches on the day in the fifth inning. For reference, his fastball was up to 150 kilometers.
Meanwhile, the game is underway in the top of the sixth inning with Lotte leading 4-0.