LG Twins pitcher Choi Won-tae couldn’t overcome the first-inning jinx again. Choi Won-tae hasn’t been able to shake off his late-season slump.
Choi Won-tae started the game against Lotte at Munsu Stadium in Ulsan on Wednesday. He struggled from the first inning, giving up a leadoff single to Yoon Dong-hee. Choi struck out Ko Seung-min on a wild pitch, but gave up a single to left to Jeon Jun-woo to put runners on first and second.
He struck out Reyes for the second out, but gave up a two-pitch, 130-kilometer changeup to Son Ho-young for a three-run home run over the left field wall.
The second inning was also shaky, but defense got him out of trouble. Choi Won-tae singled to center to Jung Hoon and Park Seung-wook singled to left to put runners on first and second with no outs.
After a failed bunt, Lee Jung-geun hit a ball toward the third baseman. Third baseman Koo Bon-hyeok caught it, quickly stepped on the third base and threw to second. Second baseman Shin Min-jae threw to first base to complete the triple play.
In the bottom of the third, Ko Seung-min singled, but Jeon Jun-woo and Reyes were retired on consecutive pitches. In the top of the fourth, he walked Na Seung-yup. Jung walked Jung Hoon and Park Seung-wook grounded out to end the inning.
In the top of the fifth,
Yoon walked Yoon Dong-hee and gave up a single to left to Ko Seung-min. Jeon Jun-woo gave up a single to right, but Yoon Dong-hee was thrown out at third base. With runners on first and third, Choi got Reyes to ground out to shortstop to end the inning.
Choi was pulled after five innings, allowing three runs on eight hits, one home run, two walks and four strikeouts. Moon Bo-kyung’s solo homer in the fourth inning and Park Dong-won’s two-run shot in the sixth tied the game at 3-3.
Choi, who suffered a right side injury in mid-June, 토토사이트 rehabbed for about a month and returned in the second half. However, in four appearances in the second half, he is 2-2 with a 10.80 ERA. All four games were in the first inning.
On July 12 against Hanwha, he gave up three runs in the first inning and took the loss after five innings of three-run ball. On July 25 against Lotte, he gave up a leadoff single in the first inning and was ejected after throwing a head shot at Son Ho-young with runners on first and second. He then gave up four runs with the bases loaded, allowing both runners to score.
Against Hanwha on July 28,
He gave up three runs in the first inning and was charged with six runs in three innings. He also gave up three runs in the first inning against Lotte.
In four games, he gave up 13 runs in the first inning. His average ERA in the first inning is a whopping 35.10. It is said that the first inning is the hardest for starting pitchers, but the number of runs given up in the first inning is too high. The first inning is the hardest part of the game.
Choi Won-tae’s season record is 6-5 with a 4.97 ERA. This is the worst record in the LG starting rotation.