'I was worried about renewing the contract even with 13 wins...' He tore off the cliff edge of 153km 'Life2' 6 innings, 1 hit and 8K scoreless. Let's go to Daegu.
Oct 19, 2024
|
|
|
LG Twins foreign pitcher Detrick N.S. played the most important game of the season. Ence, who was tied for the most wins for foreign pitchers with 13 wins in the regular league, but was unable to guarantee his renewal due to his unstable appearance, revealed the prospect of renewing his contract by proving that he worked in the KBO League due to perfect pitching.
In Game 4 of the playoffs against the Samsung Lions at Jamsil Stadium on the 19th, N.S. threw 103 pitches in six innings, giving up just one hit, striking out eight with two walks and allowing no runs.
Of his 30 starts this season, only four have pitched more than six innings and allowed no runs. Just one hit game. But the one hit was a home run, so he allowed one run. On this day, he cooked Samsung batters by throwing up to 153km of fastballs, 47 141km of cutters, 25 134km of changeups, and 6 131km of curves.
In this postseason, Ence was disappointed. In Game 1 of the semi-playoff against KT Wiz on the 5th, Ence, who became a losing pitcher with five hits (one home run), two walks, six strikeouts and three runs in five ⅓ innings, showed sluggish performance with six hits (one home run) and two walks, three strikeouts and four runs in three ⅓ innings when he took the mound in Game 4 after a three-day break. After a four-day break, he was scheduled to start in the second round of the playoffs on the 14th, but was pushed back a day due to rain, so the starter was changed to Son Joo-young, and Ence prepared for Game 4. Game 4 was also pushed back by a day due to rain, and Ence took nine days off and threw.
Having enough rest could help with physical strength, but I was worried about my early pitching sense because I was a starter.
All four fastballs thrown to Kim Ji-chan in the top of the first inning became balls and walked straight. There was anxiety about the control, but fortunately, he quickly found his senses by throwing breaking balls from the time he faced Lee Sung-kyu. Ence, who struck out Lee Sung-kyu with a changeover, dealt with Diaz with a ground ball in front of the second base with a 150km fastball, and Park Byung-ho with a 138km cutter with two outs to end the first inning.
|
|
|
In the top of the fourth inning, Ence struck out Lee Sung-kyu and caught Diaz by swinging and hitting a fly to shortstop, but allowed Park Byung-ho to get on base for the first time in 12 batters after a close game of full count. However, he handled Kim Hun-gon with a ground ball to the shortstop.
A tense 0-0 fifth-inning crisis came. Kim Young-woong, the first six, hit the right field. Then, with a catcher's sacrifice bunt to No. 7 Kang Min-ho, he threw three balls in a row in the advantageous count of No. 8 Jeon Byung-woo and 2S, but Ence, who finally struck out the rookie with a 150-kilometer fastball, played another full count match with Lee Jae-hyun, but struck out swinging with a 150-kilometer fastball in the ninth pitch, continuing his scoreless streak.
Despite Ence's good pitching, LG's batting lineup was also blocked by Samsung starter Reyes and is still 0-0.
In the top of the sixth inning, N.S. also returned No. 1 Kim Ji-chan to left field fly, No. 2 Lee Sung-kyu to second base fly, and No. 3 Diaz to swing and miss, and made a 'life throw' in the most important game for the team and himself.
indyk@sportschosun.com
