KKKKKKKKKK6 innings of no-hit revival. L Dongwon suddenly replaced in the top of the seventh inning. due to thigh clumping
Apr 15, 2025
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Hernandez started at home against the Samsung Lions in Jamsil on the 15th and threw 79 pitches in six innings, allowing no hits, one out and nine strikeouts. He was recording a no-hitter, but was replaced by Kim Jin-sung in the top of the seventh inning with a 1-0 lead due to a light thigh clumping phenomenon.
For Hernandez, who has been sluggish in the last two games, the part that he rebounded with good pitching and instilled faith in the coaching staff and fans is likely to be a big boon.
He successfully renewed his contract last year by showing tremendous performance as a bullpen pitcher in the postseason. In the semi-playoff against KT Wiz, he showed a perfect pitch with two saves and one hold, zero ERA in all five games, leading the team to advance to the playoffs, and in the playoff against Samsung, he took the mound following starter Lim Chan-kyu in Game 3 and kept his team's only victory by allowing two hits, one walk, and five strikeouts in as many as three ⅔ innings.
He renewed his contract in recognition of his fighting spirit, and prepared well this season as a starter 'El Dong-won'. In two exhibition games, he pitched a stable zero ERA with one win and one run (non-earned) in nine ⅓ innings, and on March 25, his first appearance against Hanwha in Jamsil, he won his first win with one hit and eight strikeouts in seven innings, increasing his chances of success.
However, he failed to pass the first inning against Suwon KT on April 2, the second time, and became a losing pitcher by allowing five hits (one home run), three walks, one strikeout and eight runs during two ⅔ innings, and he also lost against the Kiwoom Heroes in Gocheok on the 9th with four hits (three home runs), three walks, four strikeouts and four runs in five ⅓ innings. He has one win, two losses and an earned run average of 8.31 in three games this season. Until now, LG had lost only when Hernandez lost and won all other games. The burden on Hernandez is inevitably high because other starters threw well.
Still, catcher Park Dong-won, who worked with him, believed in his revival. "All the other pitchers throw well, so you can feel pressured. Ellie is in a difficult situation right now, but I believe she will be good to other pitchers when they are in trouble. "Isn't she a guaranteed player?" Didn't we see each other during the postseason. I have to throw 27 more times, but I'm not going to keep throwing like this."
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It was a pitch that showed Hernandez's desperation. He threw the ball with all his might from the first inning.
From the first inning, he hit a maximum fastball speed of 151 km. After catching the lead Kim Sung-yoon with a straight hit to shortstop, he struck out No. 2 Ryu Ji-hyuk and No. 3 Koo Ja-wook in a row to end the first inning. In the 2, 3, 4, and 5th innings, he also struck out one each and ended with three outs, continuing his perfect pitching. Expectations for a perfect game that has never appeared in the KBO league began to rise little by little as 67 pitches were thrown by the fifth inning without sending out a single runner.
At the top of the sixth inning, the expectations were even higher as he struck out No. 7 Yoon Jung-bin and No. 8 Kim Young-woong in a row, and the 142km of fighting spirit on the second pitch to Lee Jae-hyun went too far into his body and eventually hit Lee Jae-hyun's right arm. First base allowed with a hit ball. However, he immediately caught Kim Sung-yoon with a foul fly to the third baseman and continued his no-hitter.
However, at the beginning of the seventh inning, pitching coach Kim Kwang-sam suddenly came out. This means a replacement of pitchers. And Kim Jin-sung came up from the bullpen.
LG said "Hernandez had symptoms of clumping in his right front thigh, so he replaced it as protection."
On this day, Hernandez succeeded in quelling Samsung's batting lineup with various pitches, including 36 fastballs with a maximum of 151km, four with a 147km pitch, 21 curves, 10 sliders, and 8 changeups.
Hernandez gave a green light in that he pitched a revival.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
