One win away from 10 wins for the fourth consecutive year.
Samsung Lions Buchanan started the 13th game of the season against the NC Dinos of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on Wednesday. It was Buchanan’s first start in 12 days since his last appearance against the Hanwha Eagles in Daejeon on March 22. Buchanan was unable to start due to a sore throat.
Buchanan is 8-6 with a 2.91 ERA in 23 games this season, but has been plagued by nagging injuries.
On this day, Buchanan’s shoulders were heavy. Recently, Samsung unintentionally had to use three consecutive bullpen days. The Samsung bench was hoping Buchanan could keep the game close for as long as possible.
The first inning started well. He got Son As-seob to fly out to second base, gave up a single to Kim Sung-wook, and struck out Park Min-woo. In the second inning, Park Gun-woo singled and shortstop Lee Jae-hyun made an error.
However, the second run came in the third inning. Park reached on an error by the shortstop. Oh Young-soo doubled to center, putting runners on second and third with no outs. Kim Hyung-joon struck out swinging, but gave up a wild pitch to Do Tae-hoon to load the bases. Kim Joo-won flied out to center field, scoring Park Gun-woo from third. Seo Ho-cheol’s hard hit ball could have been dropped, but right fielder Koo Ja-rook stayed focused and didn’t allow any more runs to score.메이저사이트
The third inning was clean. Son Asub grounded out to shortstop, Kim Sung-wook struck out swinging, and Park Min-woo flied out to left field. The fourth inning was no different. Lee Jae-hwan flied out to center field. Oh Young-soo singled, but Kim Hyung-joon flied out to shortstop and was tagged out trying to steal second to end the inning.
The offense gave Buchanan a six-run lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. In the fifth inning, Do Tae-hoon, the leadoff hitter, flied out to left field. After back-to-back singles to Kim Joo-won and Seo Ho-cheol, Son As-seob walked to load the bases with one out. He struck out Park Min-woo on a three-pitch swinging strikeout to get out of the jam. Buchanan roared.
Samsung Buchanan. Photo by Chun Jung-hwan
The sixth inning was no different. After retiring Jeon Jae-hwan and Oh Young-soo on one pitch each, Buchanan grounded out to Kim Hyung-joon at third base. Eight pitches were enough. Buchanan was back on the mound in the seventh, and after striking out Do Tae-hoon on a wild pitch, he got Kim Joo-won to fly out to center field. He then turned the ball over to Woo Kyu-min to face Seo Ho-cheol.
Buchanan pitched 6.2 innings, allowing one run (unearned) on five hits and two walks with four strikeouts, and Samsung snapped a three-game losing streak with a 6-1 victory behind Buchanan. Buchanan earned her ninth win of the season and lowered her season ERA to 2.78.
Playing for Samsung since the 2020 season, Buchanan won 15 games (7 losses) in 2020, 16 games (5 losses) in 2021, and 11 games (8 losses) in 2022. He needs one more win to reach the 10-win mark for the fourth consecutive year.
Buchanan, who has been battling nagging injuries as of late, including a sore throat, took the mound today with a mission accomplished.