Did I take too much time? The Doosan Bears almost missed out on the victory they had secured due to complacent game management.
Doosan won 7-4 in the ‘2023 Shinhan 꽁머니사이트 Bank SOL KBO League’ kt match held at Jamsil Stadium on the 5th. Although they were leading 7-0 until the 7th inning, they were pursued fiercely by their opponent at the end of the game.
On this day, Doosan played a perfect game with starting pitcher Brandon Waddell at the fore. Brandon perfectly dominated the opponent’s lineup with 4 hits, 1 walk, 8 strikeouts and no runs in 7 innings.
In the meantime, the batting line also gained strength. He succeeded in attacking not only opponent starter Wes Benjamin, but also rescuers. By the time the bottom of the 7th inning was over, victory seemed to be visible little by little, with a 7-0 lead.
Doosan, which was going smoothly, put Hyung-beom Lee on the mound in the top of the 8th in place of Brandon, who threw 91 pitches. Brandon’s most pitches this season was 99 pitches (July 12 against SSG Landers in Munhak), and he could have won an inning or one or two more batters, but he kept the bullpen running. But after that, a problem arose.
Hyung-beom Lee, who started for relief, was hit by Min-seop Song and Chi-young Ahn in a row and faced a crisis with no 1st and 2nd bases. Afterwards, he allowed an RBI double to Anthony Alford for his first run at 7–1.
Kim Kang-ryul, who succeeded Kim Myung-shin, could not prevent the crisis. Moon Sang-cheol was allowed a sacrifice fly from 1st out, 2nd and 3rd base, making the score 7-2. After that, he gave Hwang Jae-gyun a two-run home run from second out and third base, making it 7-4. In the end, Doosan changed the pitcher once again, and only after posting Kim Myung-shin, it ended the 8th inning.
The leisurely score gap of 7 points narrowed to 3 points that met the save requirements. In order to prevent a horror show of missing the victory that had been secured, closer Hong Kun-hee had to be used in the top of the ninth inning. And Hong Geon-hee kept the team victory by handling the last inning cleanly.
On the first day of the weekend’s three-game series (4th), Doosan dropped starter Dong-Joo Kim after 3 innings, and Choi Seung-Yong (1 inning scoreless) – Kim Myung-Shin (1⅓ innings scoreless) – Jeong Cheol-Won (1⅔ innings scoreless) – Park Chi-Guk (1 inning scoreless) – Hong Geon-Hee (1 Innings scoreless) and other bullpen pitchers were put in. The bullpen was bleeding a lot, so Brandon had to throw as many innings as possible to help manage the last game of the three-game series.
As a result, Doosan lowered Brandon one beat quickly. Immediately after that, a crisis was encountered, and the result was that key bullpen pitchers Kim Myung-shin and Hong Kun-hee battled twice.
Doosan faced more difficulties in managing the bullpen with the last game of the weekend three games left. A lot of the bullpen has already been consumed in the previous two games, and Choi Seung-yong is scheduled to start next Tuesday (8th) to fill the vacancy of Choi Won-joon, so he cannot use it in the bullpen. Kim Myung-shin and Hong Geon-hee must wait for three consecutive fights. It is a complicated situation in many ways.
Did I relax too much? The Doosan bench chose to lower Brandon despite the number of pitches that could go one more inning. What will be the result of the last game of the weekend 3-game series between Doosan and kt, which are fighting fierce rankings for the ‘one-mile difference’?
