Kwak Bin (22), ace of the Doosan Bears, once again led the team to escape the crisis.
Kwak Bin started the regular season match against the Lotte Giants in the regular season of the ‘2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League’ held at Munsu Stadium in Ulsan on the 1st, and led the team’s 2nd consecutive victory by fighting 6 innings, 2 hits, 4 walks, 1 walk and no runs. The team won 2-1.
Kwak Bin is Doosan’s native ace again this year. He was also expunged from the first team entry twice due to back pain, but he was posting a 2.50 earned run average with 6 wins and 2 losses in 10 games.
And since returning from injury on the 11th of last month, he has been playing the role of a stopper for the team’s losing streak for three consecutive games. On the 11th, against KIA, he broke his 2nd losing streak with 3 hits, 2 walks, 1 strikeout and 2 runs in 6 innings. In the game against LG on the 17th, he showed 115 pitches of fighting spirit, ending the team’s 3-game losing streak with 5 hits, 5 walks, 3 strikeouts and 2 runs in 6 innings. In the match against Kiwoom on the 23rd, he also helped to escape from 4 consecutive losses with 6 innings and 1 run.
Director Lee Seung-yeop knows better than anyone else the burden Kwak-bin is carrying. Nevertheless, director Lee has no choice but to trust Kwak Bin. “After coming back from the injury, I continue to pitch in a lot of burdensome situations. He does a good job nonetheless. I will cheer him on so that he can play a good role today.”
As expected, Kwak Bin continued his perfect pitch. Kwak Bin began the bottom of the first inning with the first run of the other line on his back in the beginning of the first inning. He played the game smoothly. By the 4th inning, he was showing overwhelming pitching of a no-hitter, giving up 1 walk and 1 walk. He got his first hit with a heavy hit from lead batter Jeon Jun-woo in the 5th inning. Afterwards, he became 1st out and 2nd base by handling Han Dong-hee with a grounder from 3rd baseman, and when he gave up a walk to Park Seung-wook, he was driven to a 1st out 1st and 2nd base crisis. It was the first crisis. However, he overcame the crisis by eliminating Yoo Kang-nam as a left fielder and Kim Min-seok as a strikeout.
A bigger crisis came in the 6th episode. He gave up a walk to lead batter Koh Seung-min, a right-handed hit to Yoon Dong-hee, and a walk to Ahn Chi-hong, and faced a crisis with no bases loaded. However, Kwak Bin overcame his biggest crisis with his position and speed control. He induced the center fielder to throw a shallow floating ball while spraying a 147km fastball against Rex, the first batter with no outs and bases loaded. It was a hit that was unreasonable for a runner on third base to step into the groove. Against the follow-up Jeon Jun-woo, he actively used the curve and cut out the second baseman’s infield fly. I quickly made 2 outs. He also threw a 117km first pitch to Han Dong-hee and led him to a grounder at third base. Overcoming the crisis, Kwak Bin came down the mound with clenched fists.
He dominated the Lotte batting line, commanding 24 curves, 19 sliders, and 10 changeups, mainly with 51 four-seams of up to 149 km. There were times when the zero point was not set, but Yang Eui-ji’s ball combination wisely overcame it.
Although, the game went in a somewhat unknown direction in the ninth inning. With a 2-0 lead, finisher Hong Kun-hee allowed Yoo Gang-nam a timely hit and was chased 2-1. However, Cheol-Won Jeong (22), who came up from the crisis of 1st and 2nd base, finished the game with two strikeouts.
After the game, Kwak Bin said, “The team was on a losing streak, and the difference between the rankings and Lotte was small, so I just thought I would win somehow. In fact, the balance was really bad today. Until yesterday, I had a lot of confidence. He didn’t seem to give any walks, but he gave up 4 walks.”먹튀검증
“The Ulsan mound doesn’t seem to suit me. The pitching plate was also moved three times during the game. I used Ulsan during spring camp, but I stepped on the mound for the first time today.”
He also expressed his gratitude to his friend Jeong Cheol-won at the finish. He said, “Because the opposing pitcher pitched really well, he thought not to give even one point. Even when the bases were full, I trusted our beasts,” he said. “Even when I was chased by one point in the ninth inning, I thought (Jeong) Cheol-won would block it well. Cheorwon doesn’t concede a goal in my game. He smiled and said, “Thank you always.”
