Forget David Buchanan, the Samsung Lions rode a new foreign pitching duo to a sweep of the KT Wiz in the Korean Baseball Organization.
Samsung’s newest foreign pitcher, Denny Reyes, started the second game of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League against KT on Thursday at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, South Korea, and pitched six innings of one-hit ball, striking out two and walking one to earn the win. It was a valuable performance that led the team to an 11-8 victory.
The first inning was shaky, as it is for everyone. With a two-run lead, the leadoff batter fouled off the pitcher and Kim Min-hyuk grounded out to center field, but Mel Rojas Jr. singled to left and Park Byung-ho walked to put runners on first and second. Reyes got Baekho Kang to ground out to first base to end the threat.
After working out of a bases-loaded jam in the second and a bases-loaded jam in the third, Reyes gave up the first run of the fourth inning to make it 4-0. Back-to-back singles to Park Byung-ho and Kang Baek-ho put runners on first and third with no outs. He then got Hwang Jae-gyun to fly out to center field and Jang Sung-woo to foul out on the first pitch to get out of the jam, but gave up a single to right to Chun Sung-ho. However, he got Kim Sang-soo to ground out to the second baseman to end the threat with runners on second and third.
There was no more danger.
There were no outs. In the fifth inning against Bae Jae-dae, Kim Min-hyuk, and Rojas, and in the sixth inning against Park Byung-ho, Kang Baek-ho, and Hwang Jae-gyun, he retired the side in order.
Reyes, who gave way to Kim Tae-hoon in the seventh, threw 84 pitches (54 for strikes) and was economical. His fastball topped out at 148 mph and he used a mix of sweepers, two-seamers, cutters and changeups to hold last year’s Korean Series runner-up KT to one run.
Samsung parted ways with Buchanan, a perennial ace, and added a new one-two punch with former major leaguer Connor Seabold-Reyes. Connor went 1-11 with an 8.12 ERA in 33 games for the Boston Red Sox (2021-2022) and Colorado Rockies (2023), 스포츠토토 while Reyes went 2-2 with a 6.26 ERA in 12 games for the Baltimore Orioles (2022) and New York Mets (2023).
As expected, both players’ performances were impressive. While ace Conner got off to a strong start in the opener against KT, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits (one homer) with eight strikeouts and one walk in six innings, Reyes also had a successful debut that hinted at a breakout season.
The two foreigners combined for 12 innings of two-run ball to help Samsung complete its first opening series sweep in 15 years, since 2009, and it came against the favorites, KT.
Reyes said after the game,
“There were a lot of runs and a lot of hits from the beginning of the game. I’m happy that I was able to give a good performance in my KBO League debut thanks to my hitters. We had some crisis situations during the game, but thanks to Kang Min-ho’s good lead and support, we were able to get through them safely.” “I was surprised that so many Samsung fans came to the game even though it was an away game. I’m looking forward to the home game. We will do better than today in the home game,” he said after his first win.
The manager also congratulated Reyes on his first win and wished him better pitching. Samsung manager Park Jin-man said, “Reyes was nervous at the beginning of the game and didn’t pitch 100%. We expect him to show his strengths of crisis management and fastball control in the next game.”
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