Hanwha Eagles pitcher Kim Ki-joong (22) had one of the best days of his career.
The right-hander started Game 3 of the midweek series against the Lotte Giants at Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon on Tuesday and pitched six innings of two-hit ball with no walks and four strikeouts.
He earned his first win of the season in the 15-0 victory. It was his fourth win since turning pro in 2021.
It was literally the game of his life. Kim Ki-joong kept the Lotte bats in check with a perfect game through the fourth inning. An infield single by Lotte Reyes in the fifth inning broke the perfect game, and he gave up an infield single to Hwang Sung-bin in the sixth. However, 토토사이트 he threw a perfect game with no hits out of the infield and no runners on base. It was his first career quality start (six or more innings pitched with three or fewer earned runs) and first six innings pitched in his debut.
The Hanwha bats came alive in a big way to support Kim.
Hwang Young-mook’s RBI single in the second inning opened the scoring, followed by a seven-run fourth inning that included a two-run blast by Noh Si-hwan. Noh followed with a three-run shot in the bottom of the sixth, followed by Kim Kang-min’s first home run of the season in the seventh and Ahn Chi-hong’s wedge in the eighth.
This is the third straight win for the team since the departure of former managers Choi Won-ho and Park Chan-hyuk and the arrival of head coach Chung Kyung-bae. 사설 토토사이트 Combined with last week, the team has won five in a row. “Kim Ki-joong pitched really well,” said acting head coach Jung Kyung-bae. We asked him to pitch aggressively, and he did his job with a no-hitter,” said Jung.
“I knew I was perfect until the fourth inning, but I wasn’t conscious of it. I didn’t think I had to do better,” he laughed. “My first quality start is good, but a no-hitter is even better. My goal today was to not give up any hits,” he added.
It took 88 pitches until the sixth inning. “There was a part of me that wanted to go one more inning, but that’s what the coaches discussed and said, and I wanted to come down when I pitched well,” Kim said.
“My pitches have always been a problem, but today, trainer Lee Ji-pung really helped me mentally. I can’t tell you what it was because it’s a secret. It really helped me a lot.”
Kim Ki-jung feels more comfortable starting.
He was given the opportunity to start when two foreign pitchers were pulled at the same time. “You have to seize the opportunity when it comes,” Kim said. I’m doing my best every game,” Kim emphasized.
“I’m not conscious of the high ball, but I try to throw all my pitches for strikes. Especially with my fastball, I’ve been practicing the image of throwing it a little bit higher.”
The changeup and pitching form that he learned from Ryu Hyun-jin before the season has been helpful. He added that he also learns from his juniors, Cho Dong-wook and Hwang Jun-seo.
He is the leader of the young eagles. Aside from Ryu, the current Hanwha starting lineup is composed of Kim Ki-joong, born in 2002, Moon Dong-joo, born in 2003, 안전놀이터 Cho Dong-wook, born in 2004, and Hwang Jun-seo, born in 2005. “We get along like friends,” Kim said. We talked a lot about pitching well in our turn and not letting the streak end. Now I’ve handed it over to Cho Dong-wook,” he smiled.