Samsung Lions foreign ace David Buchanan, 34, has been knocked down again by poor batting support and a shaky bullpen.
Buchanan took the mound against the NC Dinos of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Changwon NC Park on April 15.
He held the NC bats scoreless through the fourth inning, but the offense was unable to score a run against NC starter Choi Sung-young.
Fortunately, Samsung took the lead in the top of the fifth inning with a Kim Hyun-joon RBI single, but Buchanan was immediately pressed into service and gave up a sacrifice fly to Kim Joo-won to tie the game.
Buchanan returned to the mound in the sixth inning hoping for a comeback, but Kwon Hee-dong gave up the game-winning hit.
Buchanan pitched six innings, giving up two runs on three hits and striking out six to complete a Quality Start (QS), but that was as good as it would get.
The next two pitchers, Choi Chae-heung and Choi Ha-neul, struggled, and the NC bats came to life.
In addition, he gave up his fourth career grand slam to NC’s Kim Joo-won. For the second year in a row, Kim hit double-digit home runs, showing off his status as the next big thing.
The Samsung bats, on the other hand, were unable to mount any sort of comeback and ultimately suffered a bitter 1-8 loss.
Despite taking the loss, Buchanan’s pitching was dazzling.
The right-hander, who has been Samsung’s ace in the hole for four straight years with 10 wins so far this year, is on pace to reach a sub-2 ERA for the first time in his KBO career this season. His 2.65, including this game, ranks fifth in the league. 카지노
Every year, opposing hitters get more aggressive, but Buchanan has risen to the occasion.
“Buchanan has really integrated into Korean baseball,” Samsung manager Park Jin-man said in a media interview, “He’s been taking care of his body, and he’s been analyzing the opposing team in his own way and changing their patterns.”
It will be interesting to see if Samsung can keep Buchanan next year.