LG Twins left-handed starting pitcher Son Joo-young (26) led his team to victory against their ‘Jamsil rivals’ Doosan Bears.
Son took the mound against Doosan in the 2024 Shinhan Thallbank KBO League at Jamsil Stadium on Nov. 31, allowing one run on three hits in 5 1/3 innings.
Throwing 92 pitches, Son struck out four and walked three.
LG went on to win the game 6-3 behind her strong pitching performance. Son picked up her fourth win of the season (3-3).
The win snapped LG’s four-game losing streak against Doosan. LG, which had slipped from second to third place the day before when its six-game winning streak was snapped, collected its 32nd win (W24 D24 L), dropping Doosan (W32 D25 L) to third place and reclaiming second place in a day.
Son Joo-young, who had suffered back-to-back losses against Doosan in his two previous starts this season, recorded his first win against the team. It had been 992 days since Son had pitched a winning game against Doosan, since the first game of a doubleheader on September 12, 2021.
After the game, Son said, “We lost two games against Doosan this year, and it was a rivalry game in Jamsil, so I had a strong feeling that we had to win with energy. I also felt a sense of responsibility because my team’s winning streak was broken the day before,” he said, adding, ‘I paid more attention to my preparation for the game and threw hard.’
Son explained that his curveball was his mainstay. Son used his fastball (49 pitches), slider (19 pitches), and curveball (18 pitches) to cook the Doosan lineup. He sprinkled in a few forkballs (six).
“When I was preparing for the game, I told catcher Park Dong-won that I wanted to throw a lot of curveballs,” said Son. In the last two or three 메이저토토사이트 games, I felt like I had a good feeling about my curveball last year,” he explained.
“I felt like the Doosan hitters were going to come to the plate looking for fastballs and sliders. I hadn’t thrown a lot of curveballs before, so I threw a lot of curveballs, and it worked.”
After a strong fifth inning, Son ran into trouble in the top of the sixth, giving up back-to-back singles to Henry Ramos and Jung Soo-bin to put runners on first and second with no outs.
Son Ju-young got the next batter, Yang Yang-ji, to ground out to first base.
LG then replaced Kim Jin-sung on the mound. Kim struck out Yang Seok-hwan and got Kang Seung-ho to fly out to first base to end the inning.
Son said, “It went well as I analyzed against Yang. I threw a lot of fastballs because I analyzed that he was late with his fastballs.” ”Against Yang Ji, I was more careful. I tried to throw my fastball strong and perfect, and it worked out well,” said Son.
It’s just a shame we didn’t finish the sixth inning. The sixth 안전놀이터 inning would have given them a quality start (six or more innings pitched and three or fewer earned runs allowed).
“I had a tough feeling going up to the mound in the sixth inning, but I thought I’d give it a shot,” said Son. “I was in trouble, but Kim Jin-sung saved the day. I was grateful.”
Son, who returned to action last September after undergoing elbow ligament reconstruction surgery (Tommy John surgery) in 2022, has been a full-time starter for the first time this year.
The challenge for him is to work on his physical weaknesses in order to play the rest of the long season.
“I’m not proud of myself because I haven’t been able to pitch long innings yet,” said Son, who said, “I think I need to increase the percentage of my curveballs and work on my stamina.”
“I’ve never pitched five days apart in the second team. “I’m worried about the summer when the weather gets hotter, but I’ll sleep well and rest well to manage my physical fitness. I will rest well so I can come out and throw hard,” he vowed.