'Sajik Jesus' 7 innings and 10K 1 run, but he's not the winning pitcher... Still, I escaped defeat
Jul 23, 2024
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Wilkerson, who had eight wins, seven losses and a 3.61 ERA until the previous day, had no wins only for KT Wiz and LG among the nine teams he faced. He took the mound only once against KT, but took the mound three times against LG, losing two games without a win and posting a 3.50 ERA. All three of them pitched well, including quality starts, but they were not supported by the batters and had no luck in winning.
On April 16, he played against Ence and lost. At that time, Ence scored one run in six innings, Wilkerson allowed three runs in six innings, and Lotte lost 2-7, making Wilkerson a losing pitcher. On May 11, he allowed nine hits and two runs in six innings, but lost 1-2 and became a losing pitcher again. On June 16, he scored three runs (two earned runs) in six innings and had a 8-3 lead, which required him to be a winning pitcher, but the team lost 8-9 and the victory flew away.
It was his fourth attempt to win against LG and his team's second consecutive loss, so he needed a victory because he had to break the losing streak.
I was nervous at the beginning of the first inning. After one out, Oh Ji-hwan and Austin hit back-to-back. Moon Bo-kyung was on the verge of loading the bases by allowing a straight walk. He gave up the first run by catching Kim Hyun-soo with a sacrifice fly to right field, but started with a sigh of relief by striking out Park Dong-won to prevent additional runs.
Wilkerson, who overcame the crisis well in the first inning, later overwhelmed LG's batters. Wilkerson, who handed over the top of the second and third innings with three outs, had a double to Kim Hyun-soo in the top of the fourth inning, but showed his strength to strike out all three out counts. By the top of the fifth inning, he had nine strikeouts and cruised to one run.
Unfortunately, however, he did not receive help from the batters again this time. Lotte hitters failed to target Ens at all. In the bottom of the third inning, Son Sung-bin's triple created a chance for a third base with no outs, but three batters later struck out two and grounded out in the infield, failing to tie the score.
Wilkerson remained solid in the top of the sixth inning. It was an inning to be careful to meet the center hit line, but he struck out Austin with a fly to second base, Moon Bo-kyung to center field, and Kim Hyun-soo. He pitched 95 pitches until the sixth inning.
Considering his appearance on Sunday, he thought it would be his last time in the sixth inning, but Wilkerson also appeared in the top of the seventh inning. Park Dong-won, Park Hae-min, and Kim Beom-seok were lightly defeated and finished.
There was the last chance to make Wilkerson a winning pitcher in the bottom of the seventh inning. Na Seung-yeop's walk and Ko Seung-min's hit to the right-center field gave a chance to secure the first and third bases with no outs. However, the pinch-hitter Junghoon Lee was caught by a short fly to the center field, and Park Seung-wook was out after a double play in front of the pitcher, failing to score a point in the end. Lotte tied the game 1-1 in the bottom of the eighth inning with Jung Hoon's timely hit with two outs and runners on the first and second bases, preventing Wilkerson from becoming a losing pitcher.
indyk@sportschosun.com
