Eui-ri Lee, the “left-handed young gun”메이저놀이터 of the KIA Tigers, met the team’s expectations by winning the first start in 11 days.
KIA won 7-0 in the 6th game of the season against KT Wiz in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League held at Suwon KT Wiz Park on the 8th, and sprinted for 4 consecutive wins, bringing down KT to 8th place and succeeding in recapturing 7th place. At the same time, the winning series was also secured.
Eui-ri Lee, who made his first start in 11 days after the game against Kiwoom Heroes in Gwangju on the 27th of last month, achieved his 7th win of the season with 3 hits, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts and no runs in 5 innings. Lee Eui-ri became the winning pitcher exactly four weeks after the match against the Doosan Bears in Jamsil on the 10th of last month.
In terms of content, it was a great improvement, giving only two walks, but there were two dizzying situations during the game.
Lee Eui-ri was hit in the left instep and shin in the bottom of the 1st and 5th innings by Seong-Woo Jang and Min-Hyuk Kim, respectively, but continued pitching without a replacement, avoiding serious injuries. Lee Eui-ri, who passed 2nd and 2nd and 3rd base scoreless at the end of the 5th inning, passed the mound to the bullpen after meeting the winning pitcher requirements. KIA coach Kim Jong-guk also encouraged him, saying, “Lee Eui-ri pitched a little more than the innings, but he pitched a scoreless pitch for 5 innings.”
After the game, Lee Eui-ri said, “If it was a fielder or bullpen, missing 10 days would be a big deal, but I didn’t care because I missed one term as a starting pitcher. It took a while, but I emptied my mind and played the game,” he said, expressing his feelings after completing the start.
Lee Eui-ri’s story is that it was thanks to ‘veteran catcher’ Kim Tae-gun that the walk was minimized. Lee Eui-ri, who worked with Kim Tae-goon for the first time that day, looked back and said, “(Kim Tae-gun) made my body keep turning sideways
. When it happens, the slider or curve loses its power, and in the end, he said that he couldn’t even buy a fastball, so he told me to throw it with the feeling of shooting it from the top down as much as possible.” “So the slider and curve went well. The fastball kept popping up, but the breaking ball seemed to work well. I just trusted (senpai) and threw it,” he said, expressing his gratitude to Kim Tae-gun.