The Hanwha Eagles’ Ricardo Sanchez was on the verge of a loss after fulfilling his ace duties with a strong performance that erased his last outing. His opponent happened to be Ahn Woo-jin (Kiwoom Heroes).
Sanchez started the 2023 KBO League regular season away game against Kiwoom at the Gocheok SkyDome in Seoul on Sunday and pitched seven innings of two-hit ball with four walks and seven strikeouts, giving up two runs (one earned). He had been shaky in his previous two games, giving up 20 runs (13 earned) on 20 hits and 12 walks. He lowered his season ERA to 2.97. However, despite her strong performance, she suffered her third loss of the season. His opponent, Ahn Woo-jin, pitched a no-hitter.
For Sanchez, who has been playing the role of “filial piety” since arriving in Korea, the first two games have been a nightmare. After giving up eight runs (seven earned) on 10 hits in three innings against the SSG Landers on April 8, he struggled against the NC Dinos on April 21 after the All-Star break, giving up five runs on 10 hits (three home runs) in five innings. His 1.48 ERA ballooned to 3.18 in just two games. There was talk of exposed pitching habits, and with Hanwha hoping to turn things around in the second half, they needed a quick fix. No more roster moves were possible.
On the 27th against Kiwoom, Sanchez showed a decidedly different side. While his performance wasn’t perfect, aside from the fourth inning when he gave up a run, he was as quick and effective as ever in shutting down the Kiwoom bats. After pitching a perfect first and second inning, Sanchez gave up his first hit in the third inning with a walk to Kim Gun-hee, the leadoff hitter. A sacrifice bunt by Kim Joo-hyung threatened to put runners on the corners, but she bounced back. After striking out Lee Ji-young with a 148 km/h fastball, Sanchez struck out the next batter, Lee Yong-kyu, with a 130 km/h curveball to end the inning.
The fourth inning was the problem. Mistakes were made. Sanchez induced a grounder to first base with a fastball to leadoff batter Kim Hye-sung, but Kwon Kwang-min kept him alive with a throwing error. Kwang-min Kwon played first base all through elementary and high school, but since playing in the Cubs’ minor leagues, he has been limited to the outfield in the pros. In his first game as a starting first baseman, he made an error.
A shaky Sanchez was picked off by Keum. After throwing three straight pitches to the next batter, Ronnie Dawson, Sanchez eventually gave up a walk on a full count. He eventually gave up a run on a single by Lee Hyung-jong. Song Sung-moon followed with a grounder in front of the second baseman, bringing in Dawson from third to make it 0-2.
That was it for the fourth inning. Sanchez pitched the fifth and sixth innings without faltering. After striking out two and walking one in the fifth, he came back in the sixth and struck out one more to earn a quality start (six innings or less and three earned runs or less).토토사이트
He continued in the seventh inning. After back-to-back singles to Joo Sung-won and Kim Gun-hee, Sanchez gave up a walk to Kim Joo-hyung, but got Lee Ji-young to ground out to shortstop to end his day. His effective pitch count of 102 pitches was the same as before his slump.
It was a perfect game, but when he left the mound in the eighth inning, he was faced with a loss instead of a chance to win. In the top of the eighth inning, Ahn Woo-jin, the opposing starter.