It was a battle of two domestic aces with 10 wins on the line. The laughingstock was Ko Young-pyo (31-KT Wiz), who averages 12 km/h slower.
Ko started the 2023 KBO League regular season game against the Doosan Bears at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on June 6 and pitched seven innings of six-hit ball with one walk and five strikeouts. It was his 10th consecutive quality start (six or more innings and three or fewer earned runs) and fifth consecutive quality start-plus (seven or more innings and three or fewer earned runs) as KT won 3-1 to improve to 10-5 on the season.바카라
The game between the Doosan Bears and KT Wiz of the 2023 KBO Baseball League was held on the afternoon of June 6 at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul. Doosan starting pitcher Kwak Bin throws the ball in the first inning. By Kim Min-gyu in Jamsil mgkim1@edaily.co.kr
The opposition was no slouch. Doosan also fielded domestic ace Kwak Bin. He was a member of the Asian Games squad and a hard-hitting pitcher who can reach speeds of up to 155 km/h. Before this game, he was 9-3 with a season ERA of 2.34. He was a bit more “ironclad” than Ko Young-pyo (2.50). A win for Kwak-Bin would give him his first 10 wins since his debut.
The average velocity of the two pitchers was also very different. Kwak topped out at 153 km/h with his fastball and averaged 149 km/h. Ko, on the other hand, only topped out at 140 km/h and averaged 137 km/h. Ko’s average fastball velocity was similar to Kwak’s average slider velocity (137 km/h).
However, when the lid was lifted, it was Go Young-pyo who won the game. He kept the Doosan bats in check until the sixth inning. He gave up a hit in every inning from the first to the sixth, except for the fourth, but they were all scattered hits. He didn’t give up any walks, so even if he got hit by a long ball, he couldn’t score a run unless he got a hit. This was similar to Ko Young-pyo, who pitched a no-hitter for six innings.
Unlike Ko, Kwak Bin struggled with his pitches in the first inning. He started with the leadoff batter, Kim Min-hyuk, and immediately threw three pitches in a row. He walked Kim and gave up back-to-back singles to Lee Ho-yeon and Hwang Jae-gyun to open the inning. With the bases loaded, they scored another run on a ground ball instead of a hit.
Kwak Bin also pitched well after the run. He retired the side in order from the second through the fourth innings, including a strikeout show with the help of his relief pitcher. In the fifth inning, he was in trouble, but he got out of it on his own. He faced back-to-back singles to load the bases with one out, but after a seven-pitch battle with Hwang Jae-gyun, he put a slider in the middle of the strike zone for a groundout to end the inning.
The game between the Doosan Bears and the KT Wiz of the 2023 KBO Baseball Playoffs was held at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on the afternoon of June 6. Manager Lee Kang-cheol talks on the mound after Ko Young-pyo walked Kang Seung-ho in the bottom of the seventh inning. By Kim Min-gyu in Jamsil mgkim1@edaily.co.kr
Ko Young-pyo gave up the first run in the sixth inning. One out later, he gave up a hard-hit double to Jose Rojas to the right side of the infield. Rojas moved to third when Kim Jae-hwan singled and scored on a wild pitch by Ko Young-pyo.
The KT bats didn’t let the momentum slip away from Doosan. After giving up one run, they got one right back. With one out in the top of the seventh inning, Bae Jeong-dae hit a Kwak Bin’s fastball to left field and advanced to third on a wild pitch after an aggressive play at second base. The extra base eventually led to a sacrifice fly by the next batter, Kim Min-hyuk.
The game between the Doosan Bears and KT Wiz of the 2023 KBO Baseball Playoffs was held at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Saturday afternoon. With runners on first and third in the seventh inning, Ko Young-pyo claps and walks off the mound after hitting Jung Soo-bin with an outfield fly. By Kim Min-gyu in Jamsil mgkim1@edaily.co.kr
Ko Young-pyo also faced a crisis in the seventh inning, but unlike Kwak Bin, he managed to overcome it. With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Ko gave up a walk after a nine-pitch battle with Kang Seung-ho. Despite the increased pitch count and KT manager Lee Kang-chul himself coming to the mound in the first inning, he didn’t make a pitching change and trusted his ace.
Ko Young-pyo lived up to the faith. Two batters later, he was hit by Heo Kyung-min and faced a 1-3 count, but induced a fly ball to left field from Jung Soo-bin to earn his 10th consecutive quality start and fifth consecutive quality start plus. He did this by using his curveball instead of his fastball or his main weapon, his changeup.
The game between the Doosan Bears and the KT Wiz of the 2023 KBO Baseball League was held at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on the afternoon of the 6th. Park Young-hyun pitches in relief in the eighth inning. By Kim Min-gyu in Jamsil mgkim1@edaily.co.kr
Young-pyo Ko’s back door was guarded by Young-hyun Park. Park pitched a scoreless eighth inning with one strikeout to record his 20th save of the season. Closer Kim Jae-yoon also pitched a scoreless ninth inning to secure his 19th save of the season. For the KT bats, Choi Jae-dae, batting ninth, had the only multi-hit game.
For Doosan, Kwak Bin earned a quality start with seven innings of six-hit ball, two walks, eight strikeouts and three earned runs, but suffered the loss to Ko Young-pyo to fall to 4-9 on the season. The bats scattered six hits but failed to capitalize on their chances against Ko Young-pyo and had to settle for the loss.