'Such romance in the KBO!' Finally wrote history as the club's first-ever! '9-inning shutout miracle' The protagonist was none other than 'foreign investor monster' Avila [Incheon On-site Review]

*This content was translated by AI.

SSG Landers secured victory over Doosan Bears in the first game of their three-game weekend series, led by Pedro Avila's shutout performance, successfully seizing the initiative.

On the 4th, at Incheon SSG Landers Field, SSG defeated Doosan 4-0 in a regular-season home game of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League.

With this win, SSG improved to 51 wins, 66 losses, and 5 ties, maintaining sole possession of 8th place in the league. Meanwhile, Doosan fell into a four-game losing streak, sitting alone at 5th place with 61 wins, 56 losses, and 4 ties.

For this game, SSG set its starting lineup as follows: Jung Jun-jae (second baseman), Park Sung-han (right fielder), Heredia (left fielder), Kim Jae-hwan (designated hitter), Han Yu-seom (right fielder), Choi Ji-hoon (center fielder), Jeon Ui-san (first baseman), Jo Hyung-woo (catcher), and Kim Joseph (third baseman). The starting pitcher was 'ERA 1-point monster foreign investor' Pedro Avila.

This marked the professional debut of '19-year-old rookie' Kim Joseph. SSG manager Lee Sung-yong explained the surprise selection: "Until last night, I had planned to start An Sang-hyun at third base. We hadn't found the right timing to use Kim Joseph, but this time we decided to boldly give him a chance. Both he and the fielding coach have been preparing diligently. Since we were already monitoring him closely, if we were going to insert him into the game, it made sense to start him boldly. I wanted to personally witness his abilities."

Doosan set its starting lineup as follows: Park Chan-ho (shortstop), Oh Myung-jin (second baseman), Kim Min-seok (left fielder), Yang Eui-ji (designated hitter), Ahn Jae-seok (third baseman), Kang Seung-ho (first baseman), Jo Su-haeng (right fielder), Jung Soobin (center fielder), and Yoon Jun-ho (catcher). The starting pitcher was Park Shin-ji.

Changes were made to the first-team roster. Instead of promoting Son Ah-seop and Yang Seok-hwan, Jeon Da-min and Ryu Hyun-jun were removed from the first-team entry list. Doosan manager Kim Won-hyeong explained the call-ups: "We wanted to bring in some changes. The team is currently facing a difficult situation. We hoped that veterans would come and provide some help to the players and the team, so we decided to promote them."

Through the second inning, the score remained tightly tied at 0-0. In the third inning, SSG took the lead. After one out, Jung Jun-jae reached base via a strikeout with a no-out play, then advanced to second base by exploiting an error on the catcher's throw to first. Following two outs, Heredia targeted Shin-ji's first pitch and drove in a run with a single to left field.

In the fourth inning, back-to-back home runs erupted. With one out and no runners on base, Jeon Ui-san hit a solo shot that cleared the center-field fence. Subsequently, Jo Hyung-woo also launched a solo home run over the right-field fence, extending SSG's lead to 3-0.

Then in the sixth inning, Jeon Ui-san became the hero of consecutive at-bat home runs. Facing Lee Yong-chan with one out and no runners on base, he connected with a forkball on the fifth pitch of a 2-2 count, sending it over the center-field fence for another solo home run. This marked his second consecutive at-bat home run in his career, his 34th of the season, and the 1st,276th home run in KBO League history.

Meanwhile, Doosan's lineup struggled to penetrate Avila's pitching. Through six innings with one out, not a single batter had reached first base. The first baserunner and hit came after one out in the sixth inning when Jung Soobin hit a deep ball toward second base, resulting in an infield hit. However, Jung Soobin was later caught stealing, and Kim Ki-yeon struck out, ending the threat. Doosan's lineup retired in order again in the seventh inning. By the end of the seventh, Avila had thrown 74 pitches.

Doosan finally seized their best opportunity of the game in the eighth inning. After one out, Ahn Jae-seok reached on a strikeout with a wild pitch, designated hitter Yang Seok-hwan drew a walk after a six-pitch at-bat, and Jo Su-haeng hit a ground ball that slipped between the pitcher and first baseman for an infield hit, creating a bases-loaded situation with one out. However, Jung Soobin was thrown out on a ground ball to shortstop, and Kim Ki-yeon flew out to left field, failing to score any runs.

And then in the top of the ninth inning, Doosan's final offensive opportunity arrived. Avila once again charged powerfully toward the mound. As he leaped over the first-base foul line without touching it, a roar of applause erupted from SSG fans. By the eighth inning, he had thrown 93 pitches. He retired leadoff batter Park Chan-ho on a ground ball to second base and Oh Myung-jin on a fly ball to left field before allowing a hit to Kim Min-seok up the middle. The pitching coach visited the mound once, but Avila remained in the game. Yang Eui-ji was then retired on a fly ball to second base, sealing the victory.

Avila delivered a dominant performance over 9 innings (101 total pitches), allowing only 2 hits and 1 walk while striking out 5 batters without surrendering a run, securing his first shutout in KBO League history. He also achieved his fifth win of the season. This marks the first-ever shutout in SSG Landers' history since the club's founding in 2021. In the lineup that recorded a total of 5 hits, Jeon Ui-san contributed with a multi-home run game and two hits. Meanwhile, Doosan starting pitcher Park Shin-ji (59 total pitches) took the loss after allowing 3 runs (2 earned) over 4 innings, giving up 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 4 batters. Yoon Tae-ho, Lee Yong-chan, Kim Young-hyun, and Seo Jun-o each pitched one inning thereafter. Doosan's offense managed only scattered 3 hits in total.

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*This content was translated by AI.