Keisho Shirakawa, the much-anticipated “new guy,” went down in the top of the fourth inning, but it didn’t cause much of a stir, as Lee Young-ha, the “17-win ace,” struck out the side.
The Doosan Bears won the 11th game of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League against the Samsung Lions 8-4 on Wednesday at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul, South Korea.
Doosan snapped a six-game losing streak to Samsung, avenging a loss the day before, and improved to 48 wins, 2 draws, and 41 losses on the season. Doosan is now 2-9 against Samsung this year.
Lee Young-ha was the hero of the game. She took the mound after Shirakawa and pitched 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief with one hit, one walk and three strikeouts.
Lee entered the game with the bases loaded in the top of the fourth inning with the score 5-4, and 안전놀이터 quickly cleaned up the mess by getting Gu Jae-uk to ground out to third base. It was a moment that erased all three of Shirakawa’s runners at once.
Lee Young-ha gave up a leadoff single to left-center off Kang Min-ho in the top of the fifth and then walked Lee Sung-gyu on a 10-pitch at-bat. But no runs were scored. After striking out Kim Young-woong and Park Byung-ho back-to-back, he struck out Ahn Joo-hyung on a full count with runners on second and third after a wild pitch. The former 17-win ace struck out the next three batters in a row to end the inning.
Lee was replaced by Hong Gun-hee in the top of the sixth with a 5-4 lead. She threw 32 pitches. Doosan went on to win 8-4, giving Lee his fourth win of the season and his first win in 28 days since his last start against the Gochuk Kiwoom Heroes on March 15.
“We’ve had a tough time against Samsung this year, so before the game, the pitching staff was determined to win,” Lee said after the game. Because of that determination, the pitchers were able to protect the lead and pass it on to the closer (Kim Taek-yeon),” he said.
He added, “I don’t have any physical problems in my recent appearances. I’m confident in my physical strength. I think it’s because I threw a lot of balls before and after camp to prepare for the start of the season. I’m always ready to pitch if it helps the team win,” he said, showing his team-first mentality.