KIA Tigers’ “left-hander Young Gun” Lee Eui-ri met the team’s expectations by harvesting victory in his first start in 11 days.

KIA won 7-0 in Game 6 of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League KT Wiz at Suwon KT Wiz Park on the 8th, won four consecutive games, dragged KT down to eighth place and succeeded in recapturing seventh place. At the same time, it secured a winning series.

Lee Eui-ri, who started in 11 days after the match against the Kiwoom Heroes in Gwangju on the 27th of last month, achieved seven wins of the season with three hits, two walks, eight strikeouts and no runs in five innings. It has been exactly four weeks since Lee Eui-ri became a winning pitcher since the match against the Doosan Bears in Jamsil on the 10th of last month.

In terms of content, he showed a significant improvement, giving up only two walks, but there were two dizzying situations in which he was hit by a ball during the game.

Lee Eui-ri was hit on the left foot and shin by Jang Sung-woo and Kim Min-hyuk in the bottom of the first and fifth innings, respectively, but 안전놀이터 continued to pitch without a replacement while avoiding major injuries. Lee Eui-ri, who passed the second and third bases with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning without losing a point, gave the mound to the bullpen after meeting the winning pitcher requirements. KIA manager Kim Jong-kook also encouraged, “Lee Eui-ri pitched a little more than in innings, but he pitched five scoreless innings.”

After the game, Lee Eui-ri said, “If it was a fielder or a bullpen, it would be a big deal to lose 10 days, but I didn’t care because I missed a term as a starting pitcher. I think I thought I wanted to throw it quickly. “I felt like I was missing once for a long time, so as the day of throwing approached, I was a little nervous, but I emptied my mind and played,” he said, expressing his feelings after finishing the starting lineup.

Lee Eui-ri’s story is that it was thanks to “veteran catcher” Kim Tae-gun that minimized walks. Lee Eui-ri, who worked with Kim Tae-gun for the first time on this day, said, “I think the results came out well because I think (Kim) Tae-gun helped me get rid of my thoughts.”

“(Kim Tae-gun) said that if his body continues to turn sideways, the slider or curve will lose power, and eventually, he couldn’t buy a fastball, so he asked him to throw it as if he was hitting from top to bottom as much as possible,” he said. “So the slider and curve went in well.” The fastball continued to float, but the breaking ball seemed to work well because it survived. “I just trusted (the senior) and threw it,” he said, expressing his gratitude to Kim Tae-gun.