KT realized director Lee Kang-cheol’s ‘Happy Circuit’… Koh Young-pyo 7 scoreless innings + long hit exploding sweep win 

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• on Jul 14, 2023

Professional baseball KT finished the first half with a 9-0 victory over Kiwoom and a complete sweep of three consecutive games, embodying coach Lee Kang-cheol’s ‘Happy Circuit’ on the ground.

Coach Lee said ahead of the Gocheok Kiwoom match on the 13th, “I had 14 hits yesterday, but I only scored 4 runs. There were no double hits,” he said, regretting the lack of timely hits and long hits despite the 4-3 victory the previous day. Regarding Doosan, who had won 9 consecutive wins the day before, he envied the stable starting lineup, saying, “The starting lineup has stabilized, so now I don’t even know how to fight for the lead.”

As if they had heard coach Lee’s ‘sick voice’, KT’s batting line picked up 11 hits that day, of which 4 long hits all led to goals. On the mound, starter Koh Young-pyo (32) pitched 7 innings with 5 hits and no runs, followed by Ju Kwon (28) in the 8th inning and Min Kim (25) in the 9th inning without additional runs.

On this day, the KT lineup hit a double from lead batter Kim Min-hyeok (28) at the end of the first inning, and easily scored first with an infield hit by second batter Kim Sang-soo (33) and a double by third batter Alford (29). KT, who added 1 point with Jang Seong-woo (33)’s ground ball, added 2 points with consecutive doubles in the 4th inning, knocking out Kiwoom starter McKinney (29). KT, who scored 3 runs in the 5th and 6th innings against Jang Jae-young (21), who pitched in for relief in the 5th inning, even hit a home run by Park Byeong-ho (37) and Kim Jun-tae (29) in the 9th inning.

After getting 2 outs in the 2nd inning, Koh Young-pyo was hit in the leg by Joo Seong-won (23) of Kiwoom, but came down from the mound for a while, taped, and then went up the mound. Ko Young-pyo, who returned, caught Joo Seong-won, who had reached base, as a check on first base, threw one more ball, and finished the inning.

In the 4th inning, the oldest infielder in the league, Park Kyung-soo (39), lightened Koh Young-pyo’s shoulders by performing an age-forgotten defense. In the 4th inning, with the runner on first base safe and sound, Park Kyung-soo, who was in the at-bat, kicked off a sharp grounder from second base by throwing his body at the bat, and threw the glove to shortstop Kim Sang-soo, who was covering second base, in a prone position, putting the runner on first base out.

In front of Kiwoom second baseman Kim Hye-seong, who is regarded as a ‘major league level’, Kim Sang-soo raised his thumb and gave a ’90 degree greeting’ to Park Kyung-soo, who played defense with an animalistic sense that was not envious of Kim Hye-seong. Then, Lee Jeong-hoo (25) hit the middle left, so it could have led to a run if Park Kyung-soo had failed to catch the runner from second base.

Thanks to the veteran’s hustle play, Koh Young-pyo finished the first half with a quality start (less than 3 runs in 6 innings) in 7 consecutive games from June to this day, and a quality start plus (less than 3 runs in 7 innings) in 5 of them. Ko Young-pyo said, “I didn’t like the start of this season, so my goal was to balance it from June, but his form improved as planned. “It’s good, especially because he can do a lot of quality start pluses,” he said. “He has pride in playing a role that helps the team.”

On the other hand, Kiwoom, who was blocked by Koh Young-pyo and could not pick up a point, finished the first half in 9th place, losing 7 in a row. Kiwoom, who has entered fall baseball for five consecutive years since the 2018 season and stepped on the Korean Series twice (2019, 2022) and set the goal of winning the first championship this year, is in dire need of a rebound in the second half.

Kiwoom requested the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) to publicize a waiver for foreign batter Russell (29) before the game that day, and then announced the recruitment of new foreign batter Ronnie Dawson (28). Ko Hyeong-wook, general manager of Kiwoom, said, “To rebound in the second half, we need to increase scoring production with various offensive routes.”안전놀이터

Dawson plans to join the team in time for the resignation Lotte match on the 21st, the first game of the second half after completing administrative procedures such as visa issuance.

In the ‘Nakdong River Derby’ against Lotte held in Changwon, NC won 13-3 by hitting three home runs, including Martin’s first consecutive home run in his debut. NC Son Ah-seop (35) recorded 5 hits in 5 at-bats that day and conquered the 100-hit high for 14 consecutive years. On the other hand, Lotte fell to 5th place as the 50% win rate collapsed due to the defeat that day.

In the bottom Samsung, starter Buchanan (34) took charge of the mound until the 9th inning with 119 pitches and achieved the “beauty of the end” by winning 4-1 over KIA. It is the first time Buchanan has won a complete game based on 9 innings this season. With this victory, Samsung escaped its 7th consecutive defeat against KIA. On the other hand, KIA, which had 6 consecutive victories, finished the first half in 6th place by 1 game, unable to close the gap with 5th place Lotte, which was defeated that day.

The Hanwha-LG (Jamsil) and Doosan-SSG (Literature) matches, which were scheduled to be held on this day, could not be held due to monsoon rain. Accordingly, 48 games (10.8%) out of a total of 445 games scheduled for the first half of this year were canceled due to rain, fine dust or ground conditions. KBO plans to organize a Monday game or double header game in the second half to digest this game.