Kelly pitches against Doosan in a relief game at Jamsil Stadium on April 28.
LG foreign pitcher Kelly, 34, whose up-and-down performance this season has shaken the "ace" position he held for the past four years, won his first start in 52 days with a seven-inning, two-run performance. Kelly started the 'Jamsil Derby' against Doosan on Aug. 28 and pitched seven innings of two-run ball to lead his team to a 9-2 victory.Kelly's start was his first in eight games since June 6 against Kiwoom (five innings, one run).
"I talked to (catcher) Park Dong-won before the game about being aggressive," said Kelly, who threw 72 of his 101 pitches in the strike zone, "and it was easy for me to match up with hitters with my first-pitch strikes. "I'm happy that I was able to help the team win because it's important for us to win. The fielders helped me a lot in defense."
○ A strong pitching performance that ended the 'trade rumors'... and a pride victory over Doosan
LG is a team that declared its intention to win the Korean Series this season. The team is so sincere about the 'Win Now' that it did not re-sign manager Ryu Ji-hyun (52), the 'legend' of the team that won the most games in the club's history (87) last season, citing the failure to advance to the Korean Series.
LG has also held the top spot for more than a month, since June 27. Nevertheless, the poor performance of Kelly, a five-year veteran, spurred LG's "impatience. In the postseason, it's important to have a solid starter, and Kelly, who's done a great job in that role over the past four years, has struggled when it matters most. Kelly, who has been the team's number one starter since 2019, has had five games with five or more runs allowed, including six in the season opener.
Whenever the topic of replacing Kelly came up, Yeom emphasized that "she's our number one". He even started Kelly in the first game of the second half, showing his unwavering faith in his ace. However, Kelly failed to show stability in the first game of the second half, giving up five runs in five innings. After finishing the first half with two consecutive losses, LG fell to a five-game losing streak with the 26th loss and dropped to 0.5 games behind second-place SSG. As the trade deadline (July 31) approached, Kelly was plagued by "trade speculation" even after the club said "no replacement for Kelly.
This game, his last before the trade deadline, was important to him in many ways. The opponent was Doosan, and the starting matchup was Doosan's No. 1 starter, Alcantara, who already had 10 wins on the season. Furthermore, LG's bullpen had played 12 and two-thirds innings in the two previous games against KT, as the starters had failed to last five innings each and the games had gone into extra innings.
Austin (left), the newest foreign hitter to join the team this season, took a load off Kelly's shoulders with a two-run homer in the first inning.
On a day when innings pitched mattered as much as pitching quality, Kelly showed his ace credentials with a "quality start" (seven or more innings pitched and no more than two runs allowed). The bats responded with a two-run double by Austin (30) in the first inning, followed by a three-run blast by Moon Bo-kyung in the third. The bats demolished Doosan starter Alcantara for six runs in five and two-thirds innings. Doosan, which had a club-record 11-game winning streak, has now lost three straight.
"Mental issues": How to break out of a slump?
Kelly being interviewed after the game. Kelly, who has struggled mightily this season, had to wait until after his 20th appearance of the season to be interviewed for the first time. News
Kelly, whose results this season have been puzzling the LG front office due to the difference in ball speed and rotation compared to the data, said in the interview, "I haven't changed anything technically during my slump. I think it's a mental problem. Believing in myself and working out steadily according to the routine led to good results."
SSG kneels down to Hanwha
The second-place SSG lost 3-4 to Hanwha on the same day, giving LG a 2.5-game lead over the second-place SSG. SSG closer Seo Jin-yong, who has no blown saves this season, took the mound with the game tied at 3-3 and gave up one run for his first loss of the season.
NC, which would have been tied for third place with Doosan with a win, fell to KT 2-10 at Changwon Anbang. In Gwangju, KIA earned a 6-5 win over Lotte behind six innings of three-run ball from Lee "Young Gun" Lee. Lee improved to 8-5 on the season.
Kiwoom and Samsung battled to a 5-5 draw after 12 innings in Gocheok. Thirteen bullpen pitchers (six for Samsung and seven for Kiwoom) were used in the game as the score remained 4-4 through regular innings despite strong performances from starters Hurado (seven and one-third innings for Kiwoom) and Won Tae-in (seven innings for Samsung, three runs and two earned runs). Samsung took a 5-4 lead in the top of the 12th inning and chanted "General," but Kiwoom scored a run in the bottom of the 12th inning to seal the victory.
Starting pitchers on the 29th
Jamsil: LG Lee Ji-gang-Dusan Kim Dong-joo △Munhwa: Hanwha Jang Min-jae-SSG Jong-hoon Park △Gwangju Lotte: Lee In-bok-KIA Yoon Young-chul △Gocheok: Samsung Buchanan-KIUM Choi Won-tae △Changwon KT Yoo Jeong-seong-NC Jung Goo-beom