‘July 1′ win to 11-game winning streak…’5 innings, 100 pitches’ officially out of reach…’August begins’

“I’m not too worried about the pitcher….”

The Doosan Bears lost their fifth straight game on April 30, falling 0-10 against the LG Twins in Jamsil. It is the longest losing streak for Doosan manager Lee Seung-yeop, who took over this year. The Bears’ 11-game winning streak lifted their spirits, but the long losing streak is starting to take its toll. The starting pitchers were struggling, and the defense was making mistakes all over the place. The bullpen has been struggling as well.

Time for a rebound. With the start of August, Kwak Bin will take the mound.

This season, Kwak-Bin has been Doosan’s “homegrown ace”. He went 3-1 with a 0.88 ERA in five starts in April over 30⅔ innings, and he’s now 8-3 with a 2.44 ERA in 13 starts this season.

The 11-game winning streak started with Kwak-Bin. On July 1, he pitched six shutout innings against the Lotte Giants in Ulsan to earn the win. On July 7, he continued his streak with five scoreless innings against Kiwoom.

After winning a club-record 11 consecutive games, Kwak took the mound against Lotte on July 26. On the 26th against Lotte, however, he was unable to continue his winning ways.

He gave up four runs in the second inning. A walk was the catalyst. The leadoff hitter, Jeon Jun-woo, was hit by three consecutive pitches at 1B-1S, and then the pitch faltered again at second and third base. He gave up four runs on back-to-back doubles. In five innings, he gave up four runs on four hits, four walks, and four strikeouts, with no support from the offense. Doosan’s winning streak came to a halt at 11, and Kwak Bin suffered his third loss of the season.

Lee said, “It was a bit of a struggle. He threw 100 pitches in five innings for the second straight game.” Kwak threw 104 pitches against Kiwoom and 100 pitches against Lotte.

After Kwak-Bin’s loss, Doosan suffered from the dreaded “winning streak hangover.” Injuries were everywhere, and luck was not on their side. By now, they had lost five straight games. 메이저놀이터

After starting the winning streak in July, Kwak-Bin started August with a bang. He will start against the Hanwha Eagles in Daejeon. This is Kwak’s first game against Hanwha this season. Last year, he struggled a bit, going 1-2 with a 6.19 ERA in three games.

The task is clear. “He’s definitely a good pitcher, so I don’t think he’ll have much trouble if he reduces his pitch count and increases his strike rate. In the last game against Lotte, he gave up four runs in a ballgame. As a starting pitcher, you need to increase your strike rate to make the pitchers behind you comfortable. I’m not too worried because I have such a good ball.”

Hanwha, meanwhile, will start Moon Dong-ju. Moon is 6-6 with a 3.48 ERA in 17 games this season. Against the Dusan, he pitched 11⅔ innings in two games with a 0-0 ERA.