A bigger trial awaited the Lotte Giants, who had the worst time with 3 wins and 8 losses in 11 games in July, with an odds ratio of 0.273. Meeting the Doosan Bears, who are on a 10-game winning streak. Even lost from the first game of the series, becoming the victim of the team’s most consecutive wins. However, a big twist awaited. Lotte took advantage of the first series in July thanks to a series of good pitches by Aaron Wilkerson (34), a foreign pitcher who replaced Dan Straley, and Charlie Barnes (28), a second-year foreign pitcher. It stayed in first place until mid-May, but recently fell to 6th place amid a clear decline. The new foreign pitcher’s union put the team back in 5th place and hopes for a rebound in the second half.
Strayley, who played the ace role for three years until last season, went downhill this year and packed up with a record of 3 wins, 5 losses and 4.37 ERA. 토토사이트 Wilkerson, who has strength in control and has experience in the Japanese league, was urgently brought in. It was a move that showed Lotte’s firm will to not give up fall baseball.
Wilkerson, who made his KBO League debut against Doosan on the 27th, threw 76 pitches until the 5th inning, effectively suppressing the opponent’s batting line. In the 5th inning, as if he felt a physical burden, he gave up 2 points, shaking a little, but the team scored 4 points earlier, so it was not a big problem. He pitched admirably until the 4th inning, impeccable. 5 innings, 6 hits, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts, 2 runs allowed, even winning his debut game.
Coach Larry Sutton, who met with reporters ahead of the match against Doosan at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on the 28th, said, “The fastball was well controlled from both corners of the plate, and the breaking ball was also used efficiently.” showed,” he praised.
Most encouraging of all is that he pitched aggressively based on his outstanding control. The bats of the Doosan batters turned as if they were being chased, and thanks to the quick game by freely using a high-quality breaking ball along with a fast ball with a maximum speed of 149 km/h, they filled 5 innings without exceeding the expected number of pitches (80 pitches) and even qualified as a winning pitcher. I was able to come down the mound.
Since Lotte, the team with the least errors, needed a pitcher who actively utilizes defense, it is a more suitable pitcher. Wilkerson said, “I focused on using my own strengths and throwing my ball in the strike zone. Rather than throwing too perfectly, I tried to extend the innings, and I think it was successful.”
On this day, Barnes took over the baton. After leading the contract renewal last season with a 12-12 ERA of 3.62, he went through ups and downs with 5-6 and an ERA of 4.57 in the first half. The day also had a good flow.
The other line supported many points from the beginning of the game, and Barnes did not even have a big crisis except for two doubles from Eui-Ji Yang and Jae-Ho Kim, who came in with the number of goals in the second inning, and gave up one run. He threw 94 pitches in 7 innings and earned his 7th win (6th loss) of the season with 5 hits, 1 walk, 7 strikeouts and 1 run. ERA also 4.
Regarding the secret to the change in the second half, Barnes said, “I clearly understood the strengths and weaknesses during the All-Star break, and training to compensate for the weaknesses was effective.” said.
Prior to this series, Lotte won only two starting victories in July. Even this was all thanks to Barnes. In the end, active fighting was the answer. The strike rates of Barnes this day and Wilkerson the day before were 69.1% (65/94) and 69.7% (53/76), respectively, close to 70%. When he pitched aggressively, the bats of Doosan batters were easily dragged out. At once, Lotte’s starting wins in July increased to four.
Lotte is still in ninth place with a team ERA of 4.43. Even though Pilseung’s group had two clear axes, Kim Won-joong (17 saves, 3rd place) and Koo Seung-min (14 holds, 3rd place), when narrowing the range to the bullpen (5.10), it was the lowest.
It has nothing to do with the sluggishness of the selection team. Na Kyun-an, who had been throwing well until May, began to shake sharply in June, and Strayley and Barnes suffered ups and downs. Park Se-woong was no exception. The starting pitcher was often unable to hold out for long innings, and this became a vicious cycle that increased the burden on the bullpen.
Barnes took a clear upward trend, and Wilkerson also received a passing grade. The presence or absence of one-two punches by foreign pitchers has a great influence on the stabilization of team strength. Doosan’s rebound in July is in the same vein.
In recent years, Lotte has raised expectations with confidence in ‘8 Chiall (beat and rise in August)’, but it has always fallen short of 2%. In the hot summer with August just around the corner, the two foreign pitchers are giving hope for the ‘true 8-chiol’.