'Wow! Huarado is Huarado' — Shaken by four runs in the first inning, but dominated with a top speed of 150 km/h for 'ultra-fast' stability → Returned to action with 5⅔ innings and four earned runs

*This content was translated by AI.

At the start of the game, things did not look promising. After stepping onto the first-division mound for the first time in 61 days and shaking off a nightmare in the first inning, an exclamation of "The class is still alive" naturally burst forth. Ariel Huarado (30), known as Samsung's foreign ace, completed over 100 pitches, met the requirements for a win, and left the mound.

On the 6th, Huarado started against LG Twins in an away game of the '2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League' held at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Songpa-gu, Seoul, recording 5⅔ innings, six hits allowed, three strikeouts, one walk, and four earned runs. He successfully concluded his emotional return after being absent for as long as 61 days due to injury.

In fact, Huarado's start on this day was rough. He allowed consecutive hits to leadoff batters Shin Min-jae and Park Hae-min in the bottom of the first, putting himself in a no-out, runners on first and third situation. Then, he gave up a two-run RBI single to LG foreign hitter Austin Dean for his first run, and subsequently allowed a hit to Song Chan-ui, leaving him in a dire situation with bases loaded and no outs.

After striking out Cheon Seong-ho with a swing-and-miss, Huarado caught his breath but then surrendered a one-run sacrifice fly to Hong Chang-gi, trading runs for an out. However, he allowed a two-run double to Koo Bon-hyeok that cleared the left fielder's glove, ultimately giving up four runs in just the first inning. The ball sailed over the head of left fielder Koo Ja-wook, who was playing in a forward defensive alignment, leaving him with no choice but to swallow his disappointment. Huarado ended the long bottom of the first by getting Oh Ji-hwan out on a ground ball to the first baseman. After allowing five hits, Huarado threw 29 pitches in the first inning alone.

But the ace's class shone from the second inning onward. Although he struggled to find his pitching rhythm due to the long absence, Huarado quickly regained control. He mixed a variety of pitches — including a four-seam fastball topping out at 150 km/h, two-seamer, cutter, slider, curveball, and changeup — with complete freedom, completely stealing the timing from LG's lineup. With his sharp, multi-dimensional pitching, he dominated the mound flawlessly without allowing any additional runs through the fifth inning.

Huarado returned to the mound in the bottom of the sixth, getting leadoff batter Song Chan-ui out on a ground ball to the second baseman and Cheon Seong-ho out on a swing-and-miss strikeout to record two outs easily. He then unfortunately walked Hong Chang-gi, leaving runners on first with two outs. At this point, the Samsung bench decided to remove Huarado. Relief pitcher Satoshi entered the game and recorded the final out by fielding a ground ball to the shortstop from Koo Bon-hyeok, ending the inning.

Although shaken early by four runs in the first inning, he did not collapse and quickly regained his rhythm, completing his mission with 5⅔ innings and four earned runs. His overwhelming velocity and seasoned control of pace made the 61st-day absence seem irrelevant, proving on his own why he is the ace.

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*This content was translated by AI.