The ‘2021 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League’ NC Dinos and KT Wiz match was held at Suwon KT Wiz Park on the 6th. NC Luchinsky, who started as a starting pitcher, is fighting back. Suwon | Reporter Kim Jong-won won@donga.com
Foreign pitcher Drew Luchinsky (33) was responsible for his first win in October against the NC Dinos in the quarterfinals.
Luchinsky started against Suwon KT Wiz on the 6th and took 7 innings with 3 hits, 2 walks and 6 strikeouts, leading the team to a 4-2 victory. Having achieved his 7th Quality Start Plus (QS+, starting 7 innings or more and pitching with 3 earned runs or less) this season, he has 14 wins (8) and is tied for first place with Eric Yorkish (Kiwoom Heroes) and David Buchanan (Samsung Lions) for multiple wins. stood He jumped to third place in this category by lowering his season ERA from 2.85 to 2.72.
NC, which continues to compete for 5th place to advance to fall baseball even when a large number of key players have left, laughed as they took their first victory after recording 3 draws and 1 loss this month. NC, which maintained 7th place behind SSG Landers in win rate, pressed 5th place Kiwoom by one game difference.
He started in the Changwon SSG match on the 30th of last month and led the team to a 6-2 victory with one run in five innings. He also gave the team a valuable victory in the first start in October. The KT line was silenced by throwing a fastball (38 balls) with a maximum speed of 152 km, two seams (26 balls), and cutters (17 balls), which are the main weapons. Although there were two crises such as 1 out 2 at the bottom of the 3rd inning and 2 outs 1 and 2 at the bottom of the 7th inning, he caught the follow-up batters with a bang and performed his mission perfectly without allowing a single point.
NC took the lead in the third inning with a right-handed hit by Yang Eui-ji, a third bat from 2nd and 3rd base, but hardly scored any additional points. The fierce one-point game turned sharply toward NC in the ninth inning. NC got a chance to win first and second bases safely due to an opponent’s error when Aaron Altair’s shortstop grounded following lead hitter Yang’s left-handed hit on base. Following the sending bunt, Park Joon-young’s batted ball became a shortstop grounder in a situation where one base was reached with four intentional pitches. This time, he made a mistake and succeeded in adding two points at a time. The continued 1st and 3rd basemen escaped one more point with a sacrifice fly.
NC allowed back-to-back home runs to Baek-ho Kang and Gerard Hoing after one shot in the bottom of the ninth inning, and after being chased by two points, Lee Yong-chan called the finisher. The day before (the 5th), he appeared in the 9th inning leading 4-3 and failed to keep his victory, but he faced a crisis with two companies, first and second base, including a left-handed hit from Oh Yun-seok, but he finished the game by striking out Hur Do-hwan as a pinch hitter. Lee Yong-chan, who took his 10th save of the season, became the first NC player to achieve 100 saves in his personal career.
NC coach Lee Dong-wook said, “Lucinski pitched 7 innings perfectly like an ace and blocked the opponent’s lineup, which is the decisive factor in victory. He blocked the bullpen well, and congratulations on Lee Yong-chan’s 100 career saves.” Luchinsky said, “I couldn’t win this month because of the bad team situation, but I’m happy to win today. Both the bullpen and the fielder helped a lot.” “It’s good to win a lot, but it’s more important to do my part silently and help the team. I will do my best in my position in Gyeonggi-do for the rest of the year, so that I can finish in a healthy way.”
Suwon | Reporter Choi Yong-seok gtyong@donga.com View more articles by reporter
