Kiwoom starter Ariel Furado snapped his seven-game losing streak and tasted victory.
Kiwoom earned a 1-0 shutout win over KIA at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on Wednesday. Hurado, who started the game, pitched six innings 스포츠토토 of one-hit ball with three walks and four strikeouts to earn his fourth win of the season (7-0).
It was his first no-hitter of the season. While on the mound, Furado cooked the KIA bats with a five-pitch arsenal that included a fastball that reached up to 149 mph, a slider, and a changeup. His off-speed pitches worked as well, as he turned KIA batters into one hit after another with the protection of his backstop.
“I got lucky,” Furado said after the game. He was right. Hurado hasn’t had much luck this season. The Keum bats have been uncharacteristically quiet on his days on the mound. Hurado averages 2.98 runs per game, the fewest of any starter who has pitched a full regulation inning. On July 7, he left the mound with a two-run lead after six innings of one-run ball (unearned) at Gochuk LG Electronics, but the bullpen and batting lineup were silent.
He was also accused of being the ‘league’s losingest pitcher’ (7 losses). However, Furado is ninth in the league in ERA (2.86) and 10th in runs allowed per nine innings (1.23).
Even on a day when they won four games, they couldn’t get enough offense. After Edison Russell’s single in the first inning that put runners on first and second and brought home Kim Hye-sung, the scoring stopped. Furado, however, ended his own misfortune by pitching a “salty” game, allowing only three hits against 22 batters.
It was his fourth win of the season. “We were only down by one run on the scoreboard, but the bullpen behind me did a great job to get us the win,” Furado said. “I think it’s part of baseball that you don’t get a lot of run support. My job is to contribute to the team’s victory in any way I can,” he said, adding, “I went to the mound today with only this mindset.”
One of the keys to keeping the KIA bats at bay was the pitching staff. “In the major leagues, we’re used to seeing pitches above the strike zone. In Korean baseball, on the other hand, pitches that fall to the ground seem to work well,” he said, adding, “I think the pitches I threw according to that characteristic worked particularly well.”
On this day, the ball had good rotation. “I usually throw a cutter, a slider, and a curveball, but I think the three pitches worked well together today, and that’s why it was different,” he said. It was also a good thing that he didn’t allow a hit to his “nemesis,” Socrates Brito (KIA), who is batting .444 (4-for-9) against him.
The win brought Hurado back to a sub-2 ERA. “There’s still a lot of time left in the season, and I have a lot of opportunities to pitch, so I’ll try to play as well as I can and keep my ERA low,” Hurado said.
