The fourth-year pitcher struck out a whopping nine in six innings. His most recent outing was just five days earlier on the 23rd, but a duo of trusted free agents combined to give up six runs, negating the junior’s victory.
Na Gyun-an (Lotte) started the fifth game of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League against the Kiwoom Heroes at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on Monday, giving up one run on six hits and two walks with nine strikeouts in six innings.메이저사이트
Although she looked a bit sluggish at the beginning of the game, her crisis management skills stood out. In the first inning, Kim Hye-sung doubled and Edison Russell singled to put runners on first and second with one out, but he struck out Lim Byung-wook on a three-pitch wild pitch, and two batters later, he gave up a double to Kim Hwi-jip, but again struck out Lee Hyung-jong on a wild pitch. He struck out all three batters he faced in the second inning.
Na Gyun-an gave up the first run in the third inning for a 3-0 lead. Kim Jun-wan led off with a single, followed by a walk to Kim Hye-sung and a single to right by Lee Jung-hoo. Once again, management came into play. She got Russell to fly out to center field, trading two outs for a run. He then got Lim Byung-wook to fly out to center field to end the threat.
[OSEN=Go Chok, Min Kyung-hoon]Lotte starter Na Gyun-an laments after giving up a single to Lee Jung-hoo, who led off the sixth inning for Kiwoom. 2023.05.28 / rumi@osen.co.kr
Na Gyun-an pitched back-to-back triple-play innings in the fourth and fifth innings to fulfill the requirements of a winning pitcher. In the top of the sixth, Lee Jung-hoo led off with a single and stole second, but he got Lee Won-seok to fly out to center field for his seventh quality start of the season.
Na Gyun-an was replaced by Kim Do-gyu in the seventh inning with a 5-1 lead. He threw 94 pitches. After a six-inning no-hitter (86 pitches) against Sasik NC on the 23rd, Na made his second start of the week with only four days of rest, but he had the scent of an ace as he threw another six innings while striking out a season-high nine.
The problem was the back door. It didn’t look good when Kim Do-gyu and Kim Jin-wook gave up single runs in the seventh inning with the score 5-1. Veteran Kim Sang-soo came on in the eighth, but gave up three straight singles to Edison Russell, Lim Byung-wook, and Lee Won-seok to load the bases before giving up a sacrifice fly to Kim Dong-heon. He then gave up a hit to Kim Hwee-jip, and was unable to settle down.
[OSEN=Go Chok, Min Kyung-hoon]LOTTE’s Kim Sang-soo, who took the mound in the eighth inning, throws the ball hard. 2023.05.28 / rumi@osen.co.kr
With the bases loaded, another veteran, Yoon Myung-jun, took over the baton. He struck out the first batter he faced, Lee Hyung-jong, on three pitches to give himself some breathing room, but gave up a walk to Lim Ji-yeol. Thrown on a 2B-1S unfavorable count, the 140-kilometer fastball sailed over the left-center field fence. Na Gyun-an’s victory was blown.
Lotte was unable to capitalize on their ninth inning closer, Lim Chang-min, and lost the game 5-7. A win would have put them in sole possession of second place, ahead of SSG, but would have set up a fateful three-game series against first-place LG on the 30th. It was disappointing to see their trusted transfer duo struggle.