The Doosan Bears completed a winning series, and ‘Madang-gak’ Kim Myung-shin’s solo effort deserves praise.
Doosan earned a hard-fought 4-2 victory over the Lotte Giants in the regular season finale of the Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League 2023 at Munsugu Stadium in Ulsan on April 2. With the win, Doosan completed the three-game series in Ulsan with a sweep and moved to 35 wins, 36 losses, and one tie for a five-percent winning percentage.안전놀이터
Raul Alcantara went six innings, allowing two runs on seven hits with four walks and five strikeouts. The offense took the lead in the fifth inning on an RBI double by Heo Kyung-min, but quickly gave it back.
Doosan showed its determination to take control of the game by bringing in Kim Myung-shin. Kim pitched 2.1 innings of one-hit ball, striking out four and walking none, following Kwak Bin, who threw six scoreless innings in the previous day’s game. He threw 30 pitches.
Kim Myung-shin once again took over the seventh inning after Alcantara. He struck out Park Seung-wook on three pitches, walked Han Dong-hee on a pitcher’s choice, and got Kim Min-seok to fly out to center field to end the seventh inning. The Tigers took a 4-2 lead in the top of the eighth on Yang Seok-hwan’s RBI double, and Kim came back in the bottom of the eighth to get Yoo Kang-nam to fly out to center field and Go Seung-min to fly out to left field. After 1⅔ innings of 19-pitch, no-hit ball, he turned the ball over to Park Chi-kook.
Kim Myung-shin, who proved his worth as a reliever by pitching two days in a row, was rewarded for his hard work with the win. After the game, coach Lee Seung-yeop and Yang Seok-hwan, who hit the winning run, gave Kim a thumbs-up.
“Starting pitcher Alcantara showed his ace-like form with another clean pitch,” said Lee Seung-yeop after the game, “and Myung-shin Kim, who came on after him, also did a great job by breaking the opponent’s flow for the second day in a row,” he said.
“Chul-won Jung also did a great job of closing out the game. In the batting order, the performance of captain Heo Kyung-min, who opened the game, and Yang Seok-hwan, who hit the game-winning home run, were crucial.” “The concentration of the players and the support of the fans who traveled all the way to Ulsan made it possible for us to create a winning series in the sweltering weather. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone,” he said after the victory.
Yang also turned the spotlight on his teammate, saying, “Myung-shin (Kim) really struggled yesterday and today, pitching nearly four innings combined.”
“It was harder yesterday than today,” Kim said. It was a one-run lead and we couldn’t afford to lose it. We had to break the losing streak. Today, we came back from a tie and got a two-run lead, so I felt comfortable that I didn’t have to give up a home run.” “I think being used in so many different innings means that I’m versatile. It’s important to do my job and do it well wherever I am. I’ll do my best when I’m up,” he laughed.