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Doosan Bears native right-handed ace Kwak-Bin Kwak pitched a no-hitter to earn his first career double-digit win.
Doosan extended its winning streak to four games with a 10-0 victory in the ninth game of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League against the SSG Landers at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Friday. Their season record is 54 wins, 1 loss and 51 draws. Kwak Bin, who put his pride as the "homegrown ace" on the line against Kim Kwang-hyun, pitched eight innings of four-hit ball with three walks and five strikeouts, showing his best pitching in the second half of the season. It was a perfect recovery from his previous outing on the 20th against the Jamsil NC Dinos (3⅔ innings, 7 hits, 1 walk, 4 runs). The first inning was smooth sailing. Kwak Bin gave up a single to Park Sung-ho in the top of the first inning, but he showed off his command by striking out three, and he finished the top of the second with eight pitches to save his stamina. After walking leadoff hitter Jeon Eui-san in the top of the third, he got SSG's table setter Choo Shin-soo and Park Sung-sung to fly out and strike out, respectively, to get out of the jam. Kwak continued his cruise with a triple in the top of the fourth and a double in the top of the fifth, and in the top of the sixth, after leadoff hitter Cho Hyung-woo walked, he retired the next batter, Choo Shin-soo, on one pitch. He threw just eight pitches in the top of the sixth. After shutting down SSG's bats in the middle of the game, Kwak Bin allowed Kim Kang-min to walk and steal in the top of the seventh inning, but when Han Yoo-seom followed with a single to right, right fielder Jose Rojas made an accurate throw home to pick off Kim at second base. Kwak Bin, who also pitched the top of the eighth, gave up a single and a walk to Jeon Eui-san and Lee Heung-ryun in the top of the inning, but got Kang Jin-sung and Kim Sung-hyun to fly out to end the inning on his own. After going the most innings in a single game (7⅓ against the LG Twins in Jamsil on April 15), he handed the mound over to Kim Yoo-seong in the top of the ninth to complete his task. Kwak-Bin, who had gotten into shape faster than usual after participating in the World Baseball Classic (WBC) in March, went 3-1 with a 0.88 ERA in five games and 30⅔ innings in April, but a sudden onset of back pain plagued him. He was limited to just two appearances in May, and Doosan felt the absence of its ace. After shaking off his injury, Gwak-bin showed off the ace's health and found stability since June. Despite losing three games in a row this month, from the Jamsil KT Wiz on the 6th to the NC on the 20th, the 토토사이트 team's faith in Gwak-bin's rebound remained unchanged, and the ace answered the team's expectations with his first 10 wins in his debut. "I think I was a little shaky because I was thinking, 'I'm sure (the win) will come,' but (Choi) Won-jun said that it will come when his brother does it, so I think I played with a relaxed mindset," said Kwak, who had lost three games in a row after the Daejeon Hanwha Eagles on the first day. "It was an honor to play against the best left-handed pitcher in Korea. I believe it will be an opportunity to improve further. The batters were hitting well, so I thought I just needed to do well." "There was the next game, and there was a crisis in the top of the eighth inning, so from then on, I think I just threw my best without any desire for a complete game," said Kwak Bin, who was not greedy about his debut. "Last year, I played against (Ahn) Seung-han a few times, and I think it worked out a little bit because it was me who wanted an aggressive pitching style. I wanted to use a lot of curveballs, and I think Seung-han's brother threw a lot of curveballs because he knows that I need to throw curveballs to save the game," and "(Kim) Tae-geun told me that I threw well before I said thank you (for Hoseobi)," not forgetting to mention his catcher, Ahn Seung-han, and outfielder Kim Tae-geun, who helped him in the offense and defense. "I thought my mental game was strong, but when I faltered in the second half, I thought about that," said Kwak Bin, who had some ups and downs in the second half. "The pitching coach and the pitching staff told me that I shouldn't worry about my pitching form or delivery, and Coach Lee Young-soo talked a lot about the mental game, so I think it worked out because it turned positive."
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