'What a relief' KIA's Oller shows 'injury-fueled resilience' from the first game of the second half → Hit in the calf by a batted ball, yet continues as part of 'KKK' [Incheon field report]

*This content was translated by AI.

KIA's foreign ace Oller (32) demonstrated injury-fueled resilience starting from the first game of the second half.

Oller made his scheduled start against SSG Landers at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on the 16th. After retiring the first batter, Jung Jun-jae, with a left field fly, Oller was struck in the right calf by a hard infield grounder from the next batter, Park Sung-han, which took one bounce before hitting him.

Oller limped toward first base before collapsing onto the ground. Trainers immediately rushed to his side, and silence and tension filled both the KIA dugout and the visiting fans' section near third base. Fortunately, Oller got up shortly afterward and signaled his intention to continue pitching after throwing practice pitches.

With one out and a runner on first following Park Sung-han's infield single, Oller struck out the next batter, Choi Jeong, with a 151 km/h fastball on the first pitch, prompting sighs of relief and applause from fans in the third base stands. His velocity rose to 153 km/h on the third pitch. After three pitches, he retired Choi Jeong with a foul fly to the first baseman. Oller then retired the following fourth batter, Jeon Ui-san, with a catcher's grounder, completing the inning without allowing any runs.

Immediately after the bottom of the first inning, KIA announced: "Oller has a contusion on the right popliteal area (back of the knee). He is scheduled to return to the mound in the bottom of the second inning."

In the bottom of the second inning, Oller threw fastballs reaching up to 154 km/h and recorded three consecutive strikeouts against Kim Jae-hwan, Ko Myeong-jun, and Choi Ji-hoon. In the bottom of the third, he faced a bases-loaded situation with one out but prevented any runs by retiring Choi Jeong with a sacrifice fly to center field and Jeon Ui-san with a fly ball to left field, limiting the damage to one run.

Oller has appeared in 16 games through the first half of the season, recording 9 wins (tied for first), an ERA of 2.36 (second), and 108 strikeouts (second), establishing himself as the league's top foreign pitcher.

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*This content was translated by AI.