LG Twins pitcher Won-tae Choi picked up his second win of the season with his first quality start.
Choi Won-tae started the game against SSG at SSG Landers Field in Incheon, South Korea, on April 19 and threw 91 pitches over six innings, allowing one run on two hits with three walks and five strikeouts. His second win of the season.
Choi Won-tae got off to a shaky start. In the top of the first inning, he threw eight straight pitches to top hitter Choi Ji-hoon and No. 2 Shin-Soo Choo. Two walks put runners on first and second with no outs, and he gave up a single to left to Heredia.
With runners on first and second, Han Yoo-seom's fly ball was intentionally dropped by shortstop Oh Ji-hwan, who made the catch to strand the runners at first and second. Shin-soo Choo made a quick throw to second base to prevent a double play. Choi Won-tae got out of the early jam by striking out Go Myung-joon with runners on first and second and getting Park Sung-han to ground out to the second baseman.
He kept the game scoreless until the sixth inning. After a strikeout in the second inning, Choi Ji-hoon led off the third inning with a single, but Moon Sung-joo made a diving catch in left field. Choo walked Shin-Soo Choo, but the next batter was hit by a pitch.
In the top of the fourth inning, Park Sung-hwan was hit on the left knee by a pitch that sailed out of the infield. The trainer came over to check him out, and Choi continued to pitch as if it was nothing serious. He got out of the inning with a straight hit to third and a grounder to second. After a strikeout in the fifth and an error by the second baseman to load the bases in the sixth, Choi struck out the next batter to 안전놀이터 keep the game scoreless.
LG cut the deficit to 2-1 in the fifth when Moon Sung-joo tied the game with an RBI single and Park Hae-min stole second and third on consecutive singles, followed by Shin Min-jae's infield grounder. Austin's solo home run in the sixth inning and Park Hae-min's RBI double and pinch-hitter Park Dong-won's RBI single in the seventh made it 4-1.
After the game, Choi spoke about his first QS of the season, saying, "I've been so bad, it's my best pitch, but I kept trying to do well and it didn't work out, so I think it worked out because I relaxed a little bit today." Compared to his previous outings, he said, "My changeup, my curveball, I got four or five different pitches in the strike zone for strikes, so I think I'm doing a little better from there."
In the first inning, he threw eight pitches in a row to hitters 1 and 2. It started with runners on first and second with no outs. "I didn't feel good yesterday when I threw the ball, and I didn't feel good today, but I threw it while thinking about my experience when I felt bad," Choi said. "I think I caught my pitch after I got hit by a pitch. I got hit in the left knee, but it's fine. I got hit in the left knee, but it's fine. I was a little angry, and I think I got pissed off and it caught," he said, referring to his competitive nature.
Home Run Four recorded their first QS against the powerful SSG batting lineup. "I think I'm just lucky, I don't know about my condition, I was just lucky," Choi said with a laugh.
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