“Let’s make a game with you and me.”
That’s what SSG Landers foreign pitcher Roenis Elias told Seo Jin-yong. Elias started the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League game against the LG Twins at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on Tuesday, allowing one run (one earned) on four hits (one home run) with one strikeout in eight innings.
With two outs in the first inning, Elias gave up the first hit of the game to Hyun-Soo Kim, but got Austin Dean to fly out to left field. He then retired the side in order in the second and third innings. In the fourth, he gave up a leadoff single to Shin Min-jae and then induced a groundout to Kim Hyun-soo to get out of the jam.
Elias gave up a run in the top of the sixth inning with a 1-0 lead. He gave up a leadoff home run to Do-hwan Heo to tie the game. But he didn’t falter after that, pitching through the eighth inning without any major damage. He didn’t allow a single runner into scoring position on the day. Seo Jin-yong came on in the bottom of the ninth to protect the lead and close out the game.
Coach Kim Won-hyung commented on Elias’ performance, saying, “Elias pitched his best game. It was a tough outing in a losing streak, but he pitched aggressively and kept the long innings to a minimum.”
After the game, Elias said, “I pitched my best, I pitched as hard as I could. I threw 93 pitches in the seventh inning, but I wanted to go one more inning and give the bullpen a break.” “I thought the bullpen was overloaded this week, so I wanted to go to the eighth inning,” he said.
Elias pitched eight innings in the game, the most in his KBO debut. He threw 104 pitches through the eighth inning. He mixed a four-seam fastball (60 pitches), changeup (25 pitches), and slider (19 pitches). His fastball reached 152 km/h.
“I was in good shape to pitch until the ninth inning,” Elias said, “but before the game, I talked to Jinyong Seo and said, ‘Today, you and I will make a game of it.’ I trusted him and gave him the ninth inning.” 토토사이트
Elias roared after getting Park Hae-min, the last batter of the eighth inning, to ground out to first base. ”I felt a lot of quiet because the team was in a losing streak,” he said, “and I did the ceremony because I wanted my teammates to be more aggressive and excited to play.”