Choi Chae-heung (Samsung) made his 11th attempt to get his first win of the season, but came up short.
안전놀이터Choi took the mound against the Ulsan Lotte on May 5 as the starting pitcher. “As a starting pitcher, you need to throw 100 pitches to get five days off, but if you throw 50 pitches, three days off is enough,” Park Jin-man said ahead of the game, explaining why he moved Choi’s start up from the first day against the Daegu NC.
Choi’s words were meant to encourage Choi, who had struggled in his last start, to do his job as a starter.
Choi was rocked for five runs on nine hits (one home run) and three walks in four innings. Trailing 3-5 in the fifth, he was relieved by right-hander Hong Jung-woo.
It was a shaky start. In the first inning, Yoon Dong-hee and Jeong Hoon singled and Ahn Chi-hong was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Jeon induced a grounder to third for the first out. Goodrum’s sacrifice fly to right field scored the first run. With runners on first and third, Yoo Kang-nam hit a three-run home run to center field.
Choi Chae-heung gave up back-to-back singles to Ahn Chi-hong and Jeon Jun-woo two batters later, but induced Goodrum to fly out to second to end the inning. In the third inning, the leadoff hitter, Yoo Kang-nam, hit a double to right field. He then walked Kim Min-seok, Noh Jin-hyuk, and Hwang Sung-bin to end the inning.
In the fourth inning, Yoon Dong-hee doubled and Ahn Chi-hong walked to put runners on first and second. Jeon Jun-woo singled to left field to bring in one more run, and he ended his day by getting rid of Goodrum’s grounder to short.