“There are times when you get the first pitch and times when you get the losing pitch.”
The ace’s poor performance led to the team’s loss, but the manager hopes to make up for it in his next outing.
Doosan Bears manager Lee Seung-yeop was referring to the pitching of Raul Alcantara, who started the previous day’s game against SSG Landers in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League, which was scheduled for Game 5 at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Sunday.
Alcantara, who faced off against Park Jong-hoon on April 26, pitched a scoreless fourth inning. However, he was shaken after giving up a two-run homer to Choi Joo-hwan in the top of the fifth inning, and collapsed in the sixth. Alcantara’s final line was five and a third innings, 10 hits (one home run), two walks, and seven earned runs, his most in a single game this season.
After Alcantara left the mound, the bullpen gave up seven more runs and fell to 3-14, ending Doosan’s bid for a second straight win. The team accepted the unexpected outcome of Alcantara’s start, which was not part of their “winning equation.
Doosan manager Lee Seung-yeop said, “I think Alcantara’s ball was a little high (from the fifth inning). He was almost perfect until the fourth inning, so I thought he was pitching well again today, but in the fifth inning, the ball came in higher than what the catcher was asking for, and he pitched against it. I think I was shaken up by the home run by Choi Joo-hwan,” he reflected.
“I’m a pitcher who normally throws 153-44 km/h, but after the home run, I think I couldn’t mix my good pitches together because my changeup percentage increased,” he said. “I got hit with seven runs, but even if you’re the first pitcher, there are times when you get hit and there are times when you’re the losing pitcher. From the team’s point of view, I wish I could win every day, but it’s a human job, so there are good times and bad times. I hope he pitches well in the next game.”토토사이트
Meanwhile, Doosan called up pitchers Kim Yoo-seong and Choi Ji-kang to the first team and removed Lee Byung-heon and Kim Ho-joon from the roster. “Lee Byung-heon was called up in a little bit of a crucial situation, but I think his pitches were a little bit of a problem, so I think he should go to the second team and catch them again, and Kim Ho-joon should go to the second team and get some more experience because he’s been in the first team,” Lee said.
On Kim Yoo-sung’s first-team roster spot, Lee said, “I prepared him as a starter in the second team, but there is no place for him (in the first team) because we have some good starters right now. I think he’ll have to go in the middle because we had a lot of bullpen attrition this week.”