'Up and Down Both at 4.5 Games' Doosan at a Crossroads as 'KBO's Top Ace' Takes the Mound, Manager Says "If He Pitches Through the 7th Inning Today..." [Jamsil On-Site]

*This content was translated by AI.

Will Doosan Bears climb higher, or will they fall further? The gap to both the fourth-place and sixth-place teams is exactly 4.5 games. At this critical juncture, Kwak Bin, KBO League's top ace, starts on the mound. Doosan has announced its starting lineup for the matchup against SSG Landers.

Doosan will face SSG at Seoul Jamsil Baseball Stadium at 6:30 p.m. on the 9th in a regular-season home game of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League.

Doosan holds a record of 62 wins, 58 losses, and 4 ties for the season, placing them alone in fifth place in the league. They trail fourth-place KIA Tigers by 4.5 games and are also 4.5 games ahead of sixth-place NC Dinos.

However, over their last five games, they have managed only one win and four losses. In yesterday's (8th) away game against Hanwha Eagles in Daejeon, they were unable to mount any significant effort and lost 1-6.

For today's game, Doosan set its starting lineup as follows: Park Chan-ho (shortstop), Ahn Jae-seok (third baseman), Park Jun-soon (second baseman), Yang Eui-ji (designated hitter), Kim Min-seok (left fielder), Kang Seung-ho (first baseman), Jung Soobin (center fielder), Jo Su-haeng (right fielder), and Yoon Joon-ho (catcher). Kwak Bin is the starting pitcher.

Kwak Bin has appeared in 25 games this season, recording 11 wins, 6 losses, and an ERA of 2.31. Against SSG this season, he has started three games with a record of 2 wins, 1 loss, and an ERA of 2.37.

Ahead of today's game, Doosan manager Kim Won-hyeong said about Kwak Bin: "Rather than asking him to pitch for a long time, (Kwak) Bin should just maintain his own natural pace. He pitched seven innings in the last game, but I believe that if he can reliably cover six innings, we can still manage the game well enough. It would be ideal if he could pitch through the seventh inning today as well, but if he can securely hold the line through the sixth inning with normal condition, there are relievers ready to close out the 7th, 8th, and 9th innings." He expressed confidence in Kwak Bin.

Meanwhile, SSG set its starting lineup against Doosan as follows: Jeong Jun-jae (second baseman), Park Sung-han (shortstop), Heredia (left fielder), Jeon Ui-san (first baseman), Kim Jae-hwan (designated hitter), Choi Ji-hoon (center fielder), Jo Hyung-woo (catcher), Im Geun-woo (right fielder), and Ahn Jae-yeon (third baseman). The starting pitcher is Lee Ro-un, who recently transitioned from the bullpen to a starter role.

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*This content was translated by AI.