“I’ve got a sense of security”.
NC Dinos sidearm Lee Jae-hak, 32, shook his head with his worst pitching performance of the year. The pitcher’s return to the mound and the praise of his manager were not enough.
On June 16, he pitched against the KIA Tigers at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field, but was pulled in the fourth inning. The result was a poor performance, allowing seven runs on four hits (one home run) and four walks in 3⅓ innings.
He returned in May and pitched four games with a salty 0.72 ERA. In all four games, he went over six innings and pitched like an ace. On this day, he entered the game with a must-win card, but his pitches were shaky from the first inning.
After giving up a single to Choi Won-jun, he struggled with Lee Woo-sung and Choi Hyung-woo in the first inning and gave up a walk. A fastball to Socrates Brito went over the wall in right field for a grand slam. It was a wasted opportunity. In the third inning, after a walk and a Kim Sun-bin single to right, he threw wild pitches at second and third base to score a run.
The bats came alive in the top of the fourth inning, scoring eight runs. However, Lee Jae-hak was not to be denied. He gave up a single to Shin Beom-soo in the first inning and walked Choi Won-jun a batter later. The NC bench couldn’t take it anymore and called for the bullpen. They brought up Ha Jun-young, but two batters later, Lee Woo-sung singled to left and Choi Hyung-woo hit a three-run homer to make it 9-8.
Lee was charged with seven runs. His ERA increased to 2.86. His counterpart, KIA’s Lee Yi-ri, had a similarly disastrous outing, allowing seven runs on six hits in 3⅔ innings with three walks and three strikeouts. It was a day to forget.먹튀검증
Before the game, manager Kang Myung-ho said, “His fastball has risen above 140 kilometers. My changeup is effective and my cutter has gotten better this year, so hitters seem to be getting used to it. He even threw a slower curve in the form of a slider, which gave him a sense of stability.” He was hoping for a good game, but it didn’t happen.
