[Anchor]
Doosan Bears pitcher Gwak Been, who has emerged as the top ace in Korean baseball this season, won a pitching duel against his same-age friend and Kium Heroes pitcher An Woo-jin. He delivered a stellar performance, breaking the 160 km/h mark for the first time in his life.
Reporter Lee Sung-hoon has the details.
[Reporter]
Born in 1999 and friends since childhood, Gwak Been and An Woo-jin previously faced each other in the 2021 wildcard game, but today marks their very first matchup in the regular season.
To watch this "century-rivalry game," which materialized after the pitching rotation changed due to yesterday's rainout, scouts from five big league clubs, including the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees, visited Jamsil Baseball Stadium.
Today's winner is Gwak Been, who has risen as the league's best ace this season.
In the first inning, while striking out Kium's Keston Hiura on a swing and a miss, he clocked 160.3 km/h, breaking the 160 km/h barrier for the first time in his life. Aside from giving up two runs in the third inning, he pitched brilliantly with an immaculate outing of 6 innings, 8 strikeouts, 5 hits, and 2 runs allowed.
An Woo-jin also hit a top speed of 159 km/h, but he repeatedly stumbled against Doosan's An Jae-seok.
After giving up the opening RBI single in the first inning, he bowed his head in the fifth inning after surrendering a comeback two-run home run.
Doosan seized control by scoring four runs in the fifth inning alone, fueled by Severino's two-run timely hit.
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The second-place Samsung Lions took the lead in their first-place showdown series against the leading KT Wiz—who were half a game ahead—with timely hits from Koo Ja-wook in the first inning and Kim Young-woong in the second, fueling hopes of reclaiming the top spot.
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KIA Tigers' Kim Do-young, attempting to become the youngest player to hit 40 home runs, has yet to hit a home run in the game against the SSG Landers.
(Video Editing: Ha Seong-won)
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