'An Woo-jin, the best in the world, allowing six runs...' It has been nearly 4 years and 8 months since that happened. What exactly went wrong?

*This content was translated by AI.

Not only for Kiwoom Heroes, but for Han Guk-eul (CEO), top ace An Woo-jin (27) recorded six earned runs and bore the burden of defeat. It has been about 4 years and 8 months since An Woo-jin allowed six runs.

On the 6th, Kiwoom lost 1-9 to Doosan Bears in an away game of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League regular season held at Seoul Jamsil Baseball Stadium. With this defeat, Kiwoom fell into a four-game losing streak. With a record of 21 wins, 1 tie, and 38 losses, the team remains in last place in the league standings.

For Kiwoom, breaking the losing streak was an urgent priority. And since the starting pitcher was An Woo-jin, expectations were high.

However, An Woo-jin struggled with control from the start and wavered. In the bottom of the first inning, after throwing three consecutive balls to leadoff hitter Jung Soobin, he induced a groundout to first base. However, An Woo-jin gave up a double to Cameron, which landed just inside the right-field line. He then got Oh Myung-jin to swing and miss on a nine-pitch at-bat for a strikeout, but surrendered a two-run double to Yang Eui-ji. He allowed a hit to Kim Min-seok, but got Park Ji-hoon to fly out to the shortstop to end the first inning.

In the second inning, he gave up consecutive triples to leadoff hitter Park Chan-ho and the following batter An Jae-seok, both to deep center-left field, allowing runs. Still, An Woo-jin got the next three batters to make outs.

Ultimately, An Woo-jin's pitching lasted only until the third inning. After striking out leadoff hitter Oh Myung-jin on a sixth-pitch swing and miss, he allowed a hit to Yang Eui-ji, a hit to Kim Min-seok to deep center-left field, and a walk to Park Ji-hoon, creating a bases-loaded situation. Then, Yang Eui-ji's sacrifice fly, An Jae-seok's two-run double, and Jo Su-haeng's two-run double came in succession, resulting in his sixth run allowed. The following batter, Jung Soobin, was out on a groundout to second base. End of the inning.

And in the fourth inning, Kiwoom removed An Woo-jin and brought in Yoon Seok-won.

An Woo-jin's stats for the day were 3 innings (79 pitches total), 9 hits allowed, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts, and 6 runs allowed (6 earned runs). It has been nearly 4 years and 8 months since An Woo-jin allowed six runs and six earned runs, which last happened on October 6, 2021, against Samsung (3 innings, 7 runs allowed, 6 earned runs).

After this game, An Woo-jin's season record stands at 1 win, 3 losses, and an ERA of 4.00. Over a total of 27 innings, he has recorded 27 hits allowed (1 home run allowed), 8 walks, 34 strikeouts, 13 runs allowed (12 earned runs), a WHIP of 1.30, and a batting average against of 0.252.

In fact, An Woo-jin had trouble with control today. He mixed 34 fastballs, 24 sliders, 14 curveballs, and 7 changeups, with his fastest fastball reaching 159 km/h and his average fastball at 154 km/h. However, out of 79 total pitches, 48 were strikes and 31 were balls. The abundance of balls led to pitches being thrown to catch counts, and Doosan batters exploited this well.

In fact, An Woo-jin has been suffering from blisters recently. On the 26th of last month during the game against Gochok KIA Tigers, blisters formed on his right index and middle fingers, and he eventually left the mound after only completing four innings. After ten days of rest, he took the mound today, but unlike his usual performance, he was hit hard.

Before this game, Kiwoom manager Seol Jong-jin said, "Blisters appeared twice before, so I am a little worried," and added, "I think we need to see the result of today (the 6th) first." He continued, "We were thinking of around 80 to 85 pitches, but the key is the blisters. If no blisters form and he can throw a normal number of pitches, it would be easier to use him in next week's rotation."

Fortunately, as the manager hoped, there was no unexpected removal from the game due to blisters during today's pitching. However, An Woo-jin struggled, allowing many runs. Will he be able to start normally next week and show good pitching performance?

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*This content was translated by AI.