There is no such thing as a permanent favorite in professional sports. Taylor Widener (Samsung), who has been dominant against Lotte this season, is in trouble.
Widener, who started against Lotte in Daegu on July 17, was 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA in three previous meetings. He picked up a win against Lotte on July 13 with NC, allowing two runs on five hits and one walk with eight strikeouts in six innings. In the second meeting on July 3, he added another win with a complete-game shutout, allowing just one run in the seventh inning.메이저놀이터
Even after changing uniforms, he continued his strong performance against Lotte. On April 6, he pitched 5⅓ innings against Lotte in Ulsan, giving up two runs on four hits with three walks and four strikeouts. Unfortunately, he didn’t get the win, but he showed his true colors. Manager Park Jin-man said, “He was strong against Lotte. He did his job well as a starting pitcher,” Park said.
With the advantage in the head-to-head record, the team was expected to win again, but the result was unexpected. He gave up six runs on six hits (one home run) in 3⅔ innings with four walks and six strikeouts.
It was a shaky start. In the first inning, Lee Jung-hoon walked, Ahn Chi-hong singled up the middle, and Jeon Jun-woo singled to left. Yoon Dong-hee flied out to shortstop to end the inning. After striking out Park Seung-wook and Lee Jung-geun in the second, Widener gave up a walk to Noh Jin-hyuk, but struck out Lee Hak-joo to end the inning.
In the third inning, the leadoff batter, Hwang Sung-bin, was hit by a bunt. Lee Jung-hoon grounded out to first base, allowing Hwang to reach second. Widener faced Ahn Chi-hong and hit a two-run arch to left-center field for his third run of the game. After walking Jeon Jun-woo, he gave up a hit by pitch and a stolen base to Yoon Dong-hee, but struck out Park Seung-wook.
In the fourth inning, Widener had runners on first and third after singles by Lee Jung-geun and Lee Hak-joo. Hwang Sung-bin was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Widener got out of the jam by striking out Hwang Sung-bin, but gave up a walk to Lee Jung-hoon. With runners on first and second, he handed the mound over to right-hander Choi Ji-kwang. Choi gave up a three-run home run to left field to Ahn Chi-hong, increasing Widener’s lead to six runs.
Samsung fell to 4-7 against Lotte, while Widener suffered his fifth loss of the season.