Korea WBC Cold defeat humiliated 159km left-hander, 11 hits, and lost! Lee Jung-hoo also had a pinch hitter... San Francisco wins 6-0 over Philadelphia [SF Review]

*This content was translated by AI.

The results were unexpected. Christopher Sanchez (30, Philadelphia Phillies), the second-ranked player in the National League Cy Young Award last year and left-hander of the 99 mph fastball, took his first loss. Lee Jung-hoo (28, San Francisco Giants) also played a significant role in that.

San Francisco beat Philadelphia 6-0 in the 2026 Major League Baseball (MLB) regular season home game at Oracle Park in San Francisco, California on the 8th (Korea time).

San Francisco, which came in last in the National League West (5th), has won four games and lost eight games, keeping 5.5 games away from the Los Angeles Dodgers, which are ranked first in the district. Philadelphia, which suffered a blow, finished third in the NL East with a 6-5 record.

The starting pitcher in Philadelphia was Sanchez, whose main weapon is a high-speed sinker with an average of 95.4 miles (about 153.5 kilometers). Last year, he ranked second in the National League Cy Young Award and received worldwide attention. Korean baseball fans are also accustomed to starting against South Korea in the second round of the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) finals, which ended last month, and leading the Dominican Republic to a 10-0 cold game win in the seventh inning with two hits, one walk, and eight strikeouts in five innings.

The much-anticipated direct confrontation with Lee Jung-hoo failed. On the same day, San Francisco excluded Lee Jung-hoo, who is weak in left-handed pitchers, from the starting lineup. Contrary to expectations that Philadelphia will dominate San Francisco's poor pitching and batting performance, the home team has been hitting from the beginning.

In the bottom of the first inning, Willy Adames made a double to right field and Matt Chapman made a hit to right field to first and third base with no outs. Here, Luis Arraez brought home third baseman Adames with a grounder toward first base.

Sanchez's plight was not the end here. In the bottom of the second inning, Gerard Encarnacion and Daniel Susaek had consecutive hits. Jared Oliva drew a double play, but he struggled with consecutive hits by Adames and Chapman in the bottom of the third inning.

It wasn't until the fourth inning that Sanchez's first three-out inning came out. At the forefront of the San Francisco offense was backup catcher Daniel Searcher. Susaek also came out as a leadoff hitter in the bottom of the fifth inning, hitting a right-handed hit, and homered on an RBI double over Chapman's height in left field. Araez made it 3-0 with a timely RBI.

Sanchez did not succeed in a quality start (more than 6 innings and less than 3 earned runs). In the bottom of the fifth inning, Rafael Devers and Casey Schmidt hit left-handed hits and ground-recognition doubles in the right-center field, respectively, and were on the verge of second and third bases with no outs.

In the end, it was replaced by right-hander Jack Pop, where Lee Jung-hoo appeared. Lee Jung-hoo lightly rolled up Pop's low slider and sent it to the front of the central fence. It was enough time and distance for the third base runner to come home. It was Lee Jung-hoo's RBI in five games and his sixth of the season.

Later, as the follow-up hit failed, Sanchez's final performance was 11 hits in five innings, six strikeouts and four runs (two runs).

On the contrary, San Francisco starter Robbie Ray showed stable pitching with three hits, three walks and seven strikeouts in six ⅔ innings. After that, Ryan Walker completed the victory in the first ⅓ and Keaton Wynn in the first inning.

After that, Lee Jung-hoo remained in the game as a right fielder and escaped back-to-back losses. In the bottom of the eighth inning, he hit another fly ball toward center field. With no hits and one RBI in the final at-bats, Lee Jung-hoo's season performance hit 0.158 and OPS (on-base plus slugging) 0.481.

The main character of the day was a search for a local boy from California. Susaek started the game for the second time on the day and played an active role with three hits, two RBIs and one run in four at-bats. Coincidentally, on the 3rd, which was his first start, the New York Mets also led San Francisco to a 7-2 victory.

Born in 2001, Susaek was drafted by the Athletics with the 19th overall pick in the first round of the 2022 MLB Rookie Draft. His brother is Andrew Searcher, who played for San Francisco in the past, and also won the 2014 World Series.

After the end of last season, Susaek, who moved to San Francisco, where his brother played through Rule 5 draft, announced an impressive start with 6 hits and 2 RBIs in 7 at-bats after making his big league debut on the 2nd.

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*This content was translated by AI.