Eric Peddie (30-NC Dinos), the best ace in the KBO, is about to achieve a feat that has eluded him for nearly two decades: 20 wins and a sub-one ERA. This is a record that even Ryu Hyun-jin (36-Toronto) could not achieve.
The NC Dinos swept the LG Twins 14-1 in their 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League home game at NC Park in Changwon on May 25. With the win, NC improved to 53 wins, 49 losses, and two ties to remain in fourth place in the league. The gap between them and the third-place SSG Landers has narrowed to three games. LG, on the other hand, remained atop the league standings with a record of 65 wins, 39 losses and two draws.
NC foreign ace Pedi started the game and pitched seven innings without throwing a single four-pitcher, allowing three hits (one home run), seven strikeouts and one run (one earned) to improve to 16-5 on the season. NC rode his dominance to a 14-1 victory.
The NC bats came out firing early and provided plenty of offense. After scoring three runs in the first inning, they added four runs in each of the third and fourth innings to take an 11-0 lead. They then added two runs in the fifth and one in the sixth to secure the 14-1 victory.
In fact, Pedi started the second half of the season on a bit of a shaky footing. In the first half, Pedi started 15 games and went a fantastic 12-2 with a 1.71 ERA. In the second half, however, he faltered, suffering three losses in four games in August before this game. Before the game, NC head coach Kang Shin-hyun said, “We were 1-3 in August before this game, but it wasn’t that Pedi was bad, but that the bats were silent on the day he pitched.” He continued to trust him.
And Pedi certainly lived up to his manager’s expectations, with strong support from the batting lineup. Peddie’s total was 80 pitches. In the end, Peddie picked up the win for his team and his 16th win of the season (5 losses). He used a mix of 36 two-seamers, 33 sweepers, nine cutters, and two changeups, with his two-seamer reaching 154 mph, and his sweeper reaching 135 mph. He threw 52 strikes. He also had 28 balls for strikes.
Pedi pitched a perfect game until the bottom of the fifth inning, delighting the home fans at Changwon NC Park. In the first inning, he got the leadoff hitter Hong Chang-ki to ground out to second, Shin Min-jae to strike out swinging, and Moon Bo-kyung to ground out to third. 먹튀검증 In the second inning, he struck out Austin, hit Oh Ji-hwan to second base, and struck out Kim Min-sung. In the third, he got Park Dong-won to ground out to third and then induced Moon Sung-joo and Park Hae-min to fly out to left field on back-to-back pitches. In the fourth, he struck out two and got pinch-hitter Lee Jae-won to fly out to the catcher to end the inning. Two batters later in the fifth, he gave up a single to Kim Min-sung to break up the perfect game, but then struck out Heo Do-hwan for the second out of the inning. In the sixth, he gave up a leadoff single to Moon Sung-joo, but struck out Choi Seung-min and got Son Ho-young to ground out to third base. In the seventh inning, 2