“I had bad luck yesterday. That’s the only way to put it.”
Kiwoom’s Ahn Woo-jin gave up five runs on six hits (one home run) with six strikeouts and one walk in 5 1/3 innings against Gwangju Kiwoom on April 28, the most he’s allowed in a single game this season. It wasn’t a game of his own making. KIA batters took advantage of Ahn’s poor pitches. There were more balls up the middle than usual. Even the best ace in the KBO can’t give up one or two runs every game.
The important thing is that Kiwoom still won. Kiwoom used a strong backstop in the offense, including a well-timed attack on the KIA bullpen, to win 7-5 in 11 extra innings. Whenever Ahn Woo-jin has pitched this season, it hasn’t been uncommon for her to pitch well and still not get the win and her team to lose.
But on this day, the team was smiling despite Ahn’s poor performance. I still have five wins on the season, but in the 15 games that Ahn has pitched this season, Kiwoom is now 8-6-1. That’s still not a great winning percentage. Two or three more wins here and there could have changed the outcome for both Ahn and Kiwoom.
In any case, it’s all in the past, and it’s important to prepare for the next game. Ahead of the Gwangju KIA game on the 29th, coach Hong Won-ki said, “Ahn Woo-jin has been improving since the 10-day break, but he was unlucky yesterday. There were a lot of balls in the middle. That’s the right way to put it.”
The batters’ interpretation of Ahn’s appearance was that she was under pressure. “From the opening game, we faced a lot of top order batters, so it was hard for the batsmen to score runs. If we won a close game, we would have gained momentum and continued to have a good flow, but the batsmen were not doing well, and that might have affected us psychologically. On days when Ahn Woo-jin comes out, we are motivated to do well, so it doesn’t seem to work out.”카지노
On this day, however, the batters stepped up and pulled off the upset. Hong said, “Song Sung-moon’s batting has come alive and the team’s offense has become more active. It’s very helpful for the batting lineup. We need to get a lot of runs to get results. When Kim Hye-sung and Lee Jung-hoo get on base and connect behind the plate, it has a big impact on the outcome.”