‘Return of fortune’ William Cuevas once again became the KT Wiz’s victory fairy. It is the 6th consecutive win this season and the 8th consecutive win since October 2021. He had a great pitching battle with his old colleague Raul Alcantara (Doosan Bears), but laughed at the end and won the decision.메이저사이트
In the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League visiting match against Doosan Bears held at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on the 15th, KT won a 1-0 victory amidst the performance of William Cuevas, who pitched 7 scoreless innings, and Kim Min-hyuk, who hit the final in the top of the 8th inning.
3rd place KT ran 3 consecutive wins with 54 wins, 45 losses and 2 draws. On the other hand, Doosan recorded 49 wins, 48 losses and 1 draw, and had to postpone the achievement of 50 wins again to the next opportunity with 3 consecutive losses.
Doosan’s starting lineup is Soo-bin Jung (center fielder) – Jae-seok Ahn (2nd baseman) – Jose Rojas (left fielder) – Seok-hwan Yang (1st baseman) – Jae-hwan Kim (designated hitter) – In-tae Kim (right fielder) – Joon-yeong Park (shortstop) – Seung-hyeon Jang (catcher) – Heo Kyung-min (3rd baseman) in order. The starting pitcher was Raul Alcantara.
KT: Kim Min-hyeok (right fielder) – Lee Ho-yeon (2nd baseman) – Hwang Jae-gyun (3rd baseman) – Jang Seong-woo (catcher) – Anthony Alford (left fielder) – Kim Jun-tae (designated hitter) – Oh Yun-seok (1st baseman) – Kim Sang-soo (shortstop) – Bae Jeong-dae (Center fielder) lined up the batting order. William Cuevas had a starter match against Alcantara.
On this day, the biggest interest was the pride confrontation between Alcantara and Cuevas, who ate one pot rice at KT in 2019. Alcantara, who had 20 wins at Doosan in 2020, wore the Doosan uniform again ahead of this season and already achieved 10 wins (5 losses) in 21 games, with an ERA of 2.47, solidifying his role as the team’s first starter.
Cuevas left the team due to injury at the beginning of last season, but after returning to his former team as a substitute this season, he transformed into a ‘victory fairy’ with 5 wins and 3.54 ERA in 9 games without loss.
The two were active as KT’s one-two punch in 2019. At the time, Alcantara was 11-11 with an ERA of 4.01, and Cuevas was 13-10 with an ERA of 3.62. KT re-signed only with Cuevas after the season, and Doosan brought Alcantara and made it a 20-win pitcher.
When I met KT, I became stronger. In particular, this season, they did not give up a single point in the two matches against KT and won two victories. KT coach Lee Kang-chul said, “He throws Alcantara so well. He throws it with his teeth clenched. Is it because he didn’t catch it? Thanks to him, he went to Japan and made money, and how good it is.” He came out saying, “Do you have any ill feelings?” he smiled.
However, the fact that he has been giving up home runs in the last three games is an unsettling factor. Doosan coach Lee Seung-yeop said, “There are times when there are breaking balls compared to fast balls.” showed
In the early 150km range, they played an active game with fast balls and sharp splitters. KT’s other lines were tied up.
Cuevas also overpowered Doosan batters based on his elaborate command. In particular, Doosan batters were helpless with the success of ‘Slub’, which seemed to be a combination of a slider and a curveball.
Pitchers on both teams pitched without leaking. Doosan’s Soo-bin Sue shook Cuevas in the bottom of the 4th inning. He dug into first base with a surprise bunt that sent the ball through an amazing course. The follow-up hitter Ahn Jae-seok’s bunt came to mind and easily increased the out count by one, but was it because he was too conscious of Su-bin Jeong, who was second in steals in the league? The check ball was removed and Soo-bin reached third base.
However, he laughed at the defensive help. KT first baseman Oh Yoon-seok quickly scattered Lohas’s one-bound batted ball home. Subin Jeong, a member of the Junjok, had no choice but to be out. It was a perfect out-timing that I had no choice but to admit to the point of giving up on video reading.
The concentration of the fielders also increased due to the good pitching of the pitchers of both teams. In the top of the 5th inning, Alford’s ball flew toward the 1st base bullpen, but Doosan first baseman Yang Seok-hwan stretched out his arm with a jump and kicked the ball off the bullpen. After catching it with this fantastic dive, he threw the ball to first base to erase the hit.
After being hit by Kim In-tae in the bottom of the 5th inning, manager Lee Kang-cheol suddenly visited the mound. The KT bullpen is empty. I didn’t have a pitcher change in mind. However, it seemed to be an intention to cut off a tempo for Cuevas, who could be shaken by any chance.
Afterwards, Cuevas struck out Park Jun-yeong with a changeup that he did not actively use, and shortstop Kim Sang-soo caught Jang Seung-hyeon’s deep ground ball, threw a running through to second base, and caught leading runner Kim In-tae to finish the inning.
The two pitchers took the mound side by side in the 7th inning. However, it seemed to be somewhat shaken because of the increased number of pitches. After allowing a hit, Alcantara put out the fire himself by catching a grounder hit with a defense close to a feat without conceding a run.
Cuevas allowed a walk after a full count match with Kim Jae-hwan in the 7th inning with 2 outs. His pitching was stable enough to be his first walk on the day, but he allowed continuous walks with Kim In-tae on a full count. Doosan pitched Kang Seung-ho as a pinch hitter in Park Jun-young’s at-bat. After scanning his body, Seung-ho Kang flinched at the slider, which was declared a strike, and couldn’t even think of it. In the end, he struck out three pitches on three successful pitches, and withdrew.
Alcantara threw 94 pitches in 7 innings, 4 hits, 4 pitches, 6 strikeouts, no runs, and Cuevas, 7 innings, 100 pitches, 2 hits, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts, no runs.
In the beginning of the 8th inning, Doosan put forward sidearm Park Chi-guk instead of Alcantara. In the 2nd company, Bae Jeong-dae got a right-handed hit, and Kim In-tae sent a runner to second base due to a catch error.
Doosan coaching staff came to the mound, but there was no pitcher replacement. They were able to use left-handed pitcher Lee Byung-hun against the left-handed hitter, but Doosan pushed Park Chi-guk.
Usually, sidearm pitchers are weak against left-handed hitters, but this season Park Chi-guk’s batting average was 0.255 against left-handed batters, and on the contrary, Kim Min-hyeok was mediocre against submarine pitchers with a batting average of 0.276, but showed an extreme batting average of 0.392 against left-handed pitchers, so it was a convincing choice. was
But in the end, it was painful. Kim Min-hyeok’s batted ball headed toward the center fielder, and Su-bin Su blew his body in a one-run game, but the ball fell backwards. The second base runner headed home with plenty of time, and Kim Min-hyeok sprinted as well when the ball fell back. He passed second base, passed third base, and stormed home. The Doosan relay play was done neatly and no additional points were scored. 1-0 KT’s lead.
KT pitched Park Young-hyun, the No. 1 hold. Second baseman Park Kyung-soo and right fielder Song Min-seop were also put in for big defense. Park Young-hyun, who turned Jang Seung-hyun into center fielder’s floating ball, also turned Heo Gyeong-min and Jeong Su-bin into infield grounders to keep the lead.
In the ninth inning, closer Kim Jae-yoon took the mound. Kim Jae-yoon, who turned Ahn Jae-seok into a looking strikeout and Rojas with a straight hit to first baseman, caught Yang Seok-hwan with a floating ball from center fielder and ended the game.
Cuevas reaped the victory and ran 6 consecutive wins without loss in 10 games. Park Young-hyeon maintained first place with 22 holds (3 wins, 3 losses, 2 saves), and Kim Jae-yoon tied for third place with his 20th save (3 wins, 2 losses). In addition, Kim Jae-yoon also achieved 20 saves for 4 consecutive seasons. It is the 6th record in KBO history.
After the game, KT coach Lee Kang-cheol praised, “Cuevas gave the best pitching. He made a game that could win.”