KT WIZ right-handed sidearm starter Ko Young-pyo (31) showed his ‘nuclear submarine’ prowess with 10 consecutive quality starts (6+ innings and 3 earned runs or less).
Starting against the Doosan Bears in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on June 6 at 5 p.m., Ko threw 103 pitches over seven innings, allowing one run on six hits and one walk while striking out five to earn his 10th win of the season. His ERA for the season dropped slightly to 2.44 from 2.50. Behind Ko’s performance, KT WIZ defeated Doosan 3-1.
After giving up a single to Kim Jae-ho in the top of the first inning to give his team a 2-0 lead, he retired the next two batters to get off to a strong start.
In the bottom of the second inning, Ko gave up a leadoff double to Yang Seok-hwan over the left field fence. But with runners on first and second, he struck out Kang Seung-ho and Jang Seung-hyun with a perfect changeup. It was a crisis, but it didn’t feel like one. The bottom of the third inning was similar. Ko Young-pyo gave up a single to shortstop to Jung Soo-bin, who promptly stole second base to put runners on first and second. But he got Kim Jae-ho to fly out to second and Jose Rojas to ground out to first. By the end of the third, he had thrown just 43 pitches.
After retiring the side in order in the bottom of the fourth with a strikeout, Ko Young-pyo gave up a leadoff single to left to Kang Seung-ho in the top of the fifth. Kang Seung-ho stole second, putting runners on the corners. But it was Ko Young-pyo again. He retired Cho Su-hyun, Heo Kyung-min, and Jeong Soo-bin in order to end the fifth inning.
In the bottom of the sixth, Ko gave up his first unfortunate run. One out later, he gave up a double to Rojas in deep right field. The next batter, Kim Jae-hwan, singled to put runners on second and third. Then came the unexpected error. The next batter, Kim In-tae, threw a wild pitch that allowed Rojas to reach third base. The wild pitch was even more frustrating because Kim In-tae was caught stealing.
Ko Young-pyo, who took the mound in the seventh inning with a 3-1 lead on 81 pitches, gave up a walk to Kang Seung-ho after a nine-pitch at-bat. After sending Park Yoo-yeon to fly out to left field, he gave up a single to Heo Kyung-min over the first baseman’s head to put runners on second and third. However, Ko Young-pyo got Jung Soo-bin to fly out to left field to complete his Quality Start Plus (7+ innings, 3 earned runs or less).
After fulfilling his role, Ko worked through the seventh inning before handing the mound over to the bullpen. KT WIZ then held on to the lead and defeated Doosan 3-1. Ko also earned the win. 메이저놀이터
Young-pyo Ko has been on fire this season. With his performance, he completed his 10th consecutive quality start. Eight of those starts were QS+. He’s done the job of a starting pitcher perfectly. During the same period, Ko was 7-2 with a 1.55 ERA (12 earned runs in 69.2 innings), which is the quality of an ace.
In fact, he faltered briefly in May with a 4.57 ERA (11 earned runs in 21.2 innings). However, he quickly settled down to a 2.33 ERA in June (7 earned runs in 27 innings), followed by a 1.30 ERA in July (