"Wow." LG's first QS is a foreigner... KIA's opponent gave 1 run in 6 innings, KK! Was the exhibition game "ERA 6.14" really a warm-up [the scene of Jamsil]

*This content was translated by AI.

He was neither a foreign one-two punch nor a native ace who led him to last year's championship. Lachlan Wells (29) of the Asian quarter became the main character of the LG Twins' first quality start (QS, more than 6 innings and less than 3 earned runs) in the 2026 season.

LG defeated KIA 2-1 in the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League regular season home game to be held at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on the 2nd.

As a result, LG, which succeeded in its first winning series of the season with two consecutive wins, is closer to a .500 winning rate with two wins and three losses. KIA confirmed its second consecutive losing series and tied for the bottom with the Kiwoom Heroes (1-4).

The first contributor to the victory was Wells, the starting pitcher. Wells earned his first win of the season with seven hits, no outs, two strikeouts and one run in six innings.

The early innings seemed a bit shaky. After two outs in the first inning, he was shaken by an infield hit by Kim Do-young and a heavy hit by Na Sung-bum. He escaped the crisis by turning Kim Sun-bin to a ground ball at the first pitch, but allowed one run in the second inning with hits from Jarryd Dale and Park Min.

He also helped a lot in defense. LG first baseman Austin Dean threw out third baseman Kim Sun-bin's home rush with a quick throw when Dale hit a ground ball with one out and third base in the third inning. Since then, Kim Tae-gun and Park Min have had consecutive hits, but they did not lose a point as third baseman Chun Sung-ho snatched Kim Ho-ryeong's fast grounder. The maximum fastball speed was 148 kilometers per hour.

Wells began to find stability in the fifth inning when the batter made two rounds. He turned the central batting line with 11 balls and retired three times with 10 balls in the last inning. On this day, Wells threw a total of 83 pitches, including 37 fastball, 19 curveballs, 14 sliders, and 13 change-up pitches, drawing six swings and misses.

Wells, who met with reporters after the game, said, "I trusted catcher Park Dong-won and ball power and asked him to go in aggressively, but that part was effective."

It is LG's first quality start and first start win this season. LG started the 2026 season with three consecutive losses as Yoni Chirinos (6 runs in 1 inning), Anders Tolhurst (7 runs in 3 innings), and Lim Chan-kyu (3 runs in 5 innings) took the mound earlier.

Wells said, "We believe that our foreign players are good players and will throw well in the future. Our defense is so good, too. I'm not a ball pitcher, but I need a lot of help from fielders, but it's a great strength because it's a team with good defense," he said.

The exhibition game, which was sluggish with a 6.14 ERA in two games, seemed to be nothing more than a warm-up. In particular, his ball control, which gave him five walks in seven ⅓ innings, was disappointing. Moreover, it was a problem because he was a player who would play as a bullpen after May when the main players would return. Regarding this, LG manager Yeom Kyung-yeop also told Wells that he hates walks the most.

Wells responded, "I'm also a player who hates walks very much. So I went in aggressively today and I got a good result." "I've never played a bullpen before, so I don't know what I'll be like. I hope the ball gets faster. I think we have to wait and see in the future," he said.

<© STARNEWS. All rights reserved. No reproduction or redistribution allowed.>

*This content was translated by AI.