Ariel Furado of the Kiwoom Heroes couldn’t smile after a good pitch.
The right-hander took the mound against the LG Twins in the 2023 KBO Baseball League at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Wednesday.
Hurado, who signed with Kiwoom before the season, has been plagued by extreme bad luck, posting a 2.83 ERA before this game, but a win-loss record of just 6-8. In addition to poor run support, his bullpen has been a frequent source of arson. In his most recent outing, a 5-5 draw against the Gochuk Samsung Lions on March 28, he pitched 7.1 innings of one-run ball, but was unable to get the win.
Once again, Furado pitched well, but was plagued by bad luck, and his seventh win of the season will have to wait until another time. It was the kind of performance that could have saved the team from a four-game losing streak, but the bullpen struggled.
Bad luck struck the Furados from the start. In the top of the first inning, leadoff hitter Hong Chang-ki walked and Moon Sung-joo was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second. The Hurados then got Kim Hyun-soo to fly out to center field, but Austin Dean’s grounder to shortstop Kim Hye-sung led to the first run of the inning. Oh got Oh Ji-hwan to fly out to center field to end the inning.
The bottom of the second inning was uneventful. Moon Bo-kyung (grounder to first base), Park Dong-won (grounder to second base), and Park Hae-min (grounder to second base) calmly recorded the first three outs of the inning. In the bottom of the third, he retired the next three batters – Shin Min-jae (shortstop), Hong Chang-ki (pitcher), and Moon Sung-joo (shortstop).
In the bottom of the fourth inning, the offense continued. After getting Kim Hyun-soo to ground out to second base, he struck out Austin and Oh Ji-hwan and induced a fly out to center field.
The bottom of the fifth was a bit more chaotic. Leadoff hitter Moon Bo-kyung singled and Park Dong-won followed with a bunt single to put runners on first and third. Third baseman Song Sung-moon caught Park Dong-won’s bunt and hurriedly threw to first base, but first baseman Lee Won-seok collided with the runner and failed to make the catch, allowing Moon to run to third base. The initial call was a fielding error by the third baseman.
However, the Kiwoom bench immediately requested a video review, which resulted in a ruling that Park Dong-won, the batter, was out for three-foot fielding interference and Moon Bo-kyung, who had reached third base, was awarded first base.
The Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) made a major overhaul to the rule on March 20 after a number of controversial calls this year. It was decided that defensive interference will be called if the umpire determines that the runner’s running was “obstructed,” and also if the umpire determines that the runner’s running inside the three-foot line was clearly “obstructed” by a defensive play (throw or catch).
Park stepped on the first base with his right foot, but his last left foot appeared to be inside the line on the replay screen. The umpires ruled it as defensive interference. LG manager Yeom Kyung-yup immediately protested, but the call was not overturned, and he was ordered to leave the game because he protested the video review.안전놀이터
However, the situation seemed to have some effect on Hourado. After giving up a single to Park Hae-min with one out, he struck out Shin Min-jae, but gave up a single to Hong Chang-ki for the second run of the game. He then gave up a well-hit pitch to Moon Sung-joo, but the ball sailed into the glove of shortstop Kim Joo-hyung.
Hurado settled down again in the bottom of the sixth. He got Kim Hyun-soo to ground out to the catcher and Austin to ground out to third base. Oh then struck out the side on a pitcher’s mound to end the inning.
In the bottom of the seventh, Hurado induced Moon Bo-kyung and Park Dong-won to ground out to first and third, respectively. The next batter, Park Hae-min, flied out to second base.