A game between the KT Wiz and the KIA Tigers at KT Wiz Park in Suwon on April 8. KT starter Ko Young-pyo is pitching in relief.
Ko started the game against the Kiwoom Heroes in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on Wednesday.
In the top of the first inning, Ko pitched a clean game. He allowed leadoff hitter Kim Jun-wan to reach on a throwing error at first base, but got Kim Hye-sung to fly out to left field and Lee Jung-hoo to ground out to second base to end the inning.
Ko Young-pyo gave up his first hit in the bottom of the second. After getting two outs from Kim Woong-bin and Song Sung-moon, he gave up an infield single to Joo Sung-won, but he immediately used his signature quick throw to get the runner at first base to end the inning.
After retiring the side in order in the bottom of the third inning with two strikeouts and a fly ball, Ko ran into his first trouble in the top of the fourth. After giving up a leadoff single to Kim Jun-wan, he got Kim Hye-sung to ground out to second base, but gave up a single to Lee Jung-hoo to put runners on first and second.
However, Ko calmly struck out the next batter, Kim Woong-bin, and got Song Sung-moon to ground out to first base to get out of the jam.
With the exception of a strikeout of leadoff hitter Joo Sung-won in the bottom of the fifth, Ko didn’t allow any more runs, and in the bottom of the sixth, he threw just six pitches to end the game with a triple play.
After throwing 68 pitches through six innings, Ko returned to the mound in the seventh. After striking out leadoff hitter Kim Woong-bin in the bottom of the seventh, he gave up a single to Song Sung-moon and then struck out Joo Sung-won again, but gave up a single to Lim Byung-wook to put runners on second and third.
Once again, Ko got out of the jam by getting Kim Jae-hyun to ground out to second base. Finally, in the seventh inning, Ko handed the mound over to Joo.
With his seven innings of five-hit, no-run baseball, Ko earned his eighth win of the season. He hasn’t allowed a single run against Kiwoom this season, extending his ERA streak to zero.
The big story of the day was that Ko was able to manage his pitch count to go the distance while continuing to pitch aggressively, and he was also able to strike out a lot of batters. 카지노사이트킴 By the seventh inning, he had thrown just 87 pitches and struck out nine.
He also kept his pitches very simple. He used just three pitches – a fastball, curveball, and changeup – to torment the Kiwoom bats. His strike rate was a whopping 78%.
Meanwhile, KT led Kiwoom 7-0 by the end of the eighth inning, thanks to the strong pitching of Ko Young-pyo.