Native right-hander Ace Ahn Woo-jin saved Kiwoom Heroes from a crisis due to good pitching.
Kiwoom won 1-0 in a home game against KT Wiz in the 2023 professional baseball KBO League held at Gocheok Sky Dome in Guro-gu, Seoul on the 25th.
It was a game where starting pitcher Ahn Woo-jin’s excellent pitches shone. Prior to this match against KT, he had a good record of 1 win, 1 loss, ERA of 1.08 (25 innings, 3 runs) in his 4 starts, and he showed good pitching on this day as well. KT did not give up a single hit until the beginning of the 6th inning, and in the beginning of the 7th inning, Anthony Alford hit the left and the no-hit streak was broken, but the inning was also blocked with no runs.
He passed the ball to follow-up pitcher Kim Dong-hyuk in the top of the 8th inning, when the team was leading 1-0, and as Kiwoom won as it was, he won his 2nd win (1 loss) of the season.
An Woo-jin boasted an overwhelming pitch from the beginning of the first inning. Kim Min-hyeok (left fielder fly), Kang Baek-ho (second baseman grounder), and Alford (strikeout) were put to rest one after another, and the game started happily with a tripartite retreat. At the beginning of the second inning, Park Byeong-ho and Jang Seong-woo struck out in succession and then gave Moon Sang-cheol a walk, but Oh Yun-seok was treated as a center fielder fly and the inning ended.
After catching Lee Sang-ho with a ground ball to second baseman in the top of the 3rd inning, Ahn Woo-jin, who got an out count against Kim Sang-soo and Kim Min-hyeok in succession, continued to fight well in the top of the 4th inning. After leading Kang Baek-ho to the second baseman grounder, he allowed Alford to go on base due to a shortstop throwing error, and even committed a wild throw to advance to the second base, but it did not collapse. After striking out Park Byeong-ho, Jang Sung-woo led shortstop grounder and did not concede.
Even in the beginning of the 5th inning, the sense of stability continued. The third baseman gave up base hitter Moon Sang-cheol due to an error in throwing, but he sighed as he blocked Oh Yoon-seok’s bunt attempt with a catcher’s foul fly. Lee Sang-ho then led the shortstop double hit and finished the inning with three batters.
At the end of the 5th inning, An Woo-jin, who received one point support from Lee Yong-kyu’s 1 RBI and a timely hit, made the beginning of the 6th inning a tripartite inning as if his heart was much lighter. Against Kim Sang-soo (second baseman grounder), Kim Min-hyeok (pitcher grounder), and Kang Baek-ho (shortstop grounder), he increased the outcount in turn.
The no-hit streak was unfortunately broken in the top of the 7th inning. It was a hit by lead batter Alford that landed in front of the left fielder. Afterwards, Ahn Woo-jin allowed Alford to steal second base and then guided Park Byeong-ho to a ground ball in front of the pitcher, but Alford, who rushed to third base, was judged safe and was cornered into first and third base safely. 메이저놀이터
However, Ahn Woo-jin was also an ace. After tying Jang Seong-woo with a foul fly by the catcher, Sang-cheol Mun tried to squeeze the bunt, caught the ball and handed it to catcher Ji-young Lee to block Alford, who was aiming for a goal. After that, even pinch hitter Kim Joon-tae completed his mission by striking out on a swing at the end of a 5-pitch game.
An Woo-jin’s final score for the day was 7 innings, 1 hit, 1 walk, 7 strikeouts and no runs. He had 95 pitches and had a maximum velocity of 159 km. SPOTV commentator Yang Sang-moon, who relayed the match, praised, “I saw Ahn Woo-jin pitching like the best pitcher in the league.”
In particular, the reason why Ahn Woo-jin’s good fight on this day was more brilliant was that he saved a team that was in danger. From the 21st to the 23rd, Kiwoom lost all three consecutive weekend expeditions against SSG Landers, which took place at SSG Landers Field in Incheon, and was mired in three consecutive losses. Kiwoom, who was in 7th place with a season record of 8 wins and 11 losses, could find itself in a difficult situation where it would be difficult to raise the rankings if the losing streak was prolonged.
However, Kiwoom broke the chain of losing streak after a lot of hard work with Ahn Woo-jin’s good pitch, and came in 6th place. It is noteworthy whether Kiwoom, who started the week in a good mood by winning his first win in the first game of this week thanks to Ace’s performance, will be able to rebound.