Is he really 39? After 4 days of rest, 6 innings and 1 run allowed! KARA's veteran pitching 'again' silences Doosan; not outshone by Kwak Bin's "158 km/h, 10 strikeouts" [WC1 On-site]

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

His perfect 7-inning debut was no fluke. Carlos KARA (39, LG Twins), boasting a career 112 wins in Major League Baseball (MLB), once again subdued the Doosan Bears lineup with seasoned pitching despite only 4 days of rest. It was veteran pitching that held its own against Kwak Bin (27, Doosan), who led with fastballs reaching up to 158 km/h.

KARA started in the first game of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO Postseason (PS) Wild Card deciding series against Doosan on the 14th at Seoul Jamsil Baseball Stadium, recording 6 innings, 4 hits allowed, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts, and 1 run allowed.

While Kwak Bin, the league ace on the opposite side, pitched a strong game with fastballs reaching up to 158 km/h, recording 6 innings, 3 hits allowed (1 home run), 4 walks and hit-by-pitches (3 walks, 1 hit by pitch), 10 strikeouts, and 2 runs allowed, KARA matched him with seasoned game management.

Even more surprising was the rest interval between starts. After becoming the losing pitcher in a 5-inning, 3-run-allowed outing against the Busan Lotte Giants on the 9th, KARA returned to the mound after just 4 days of rest. It was not an easy schedule for the 39th-year-old veteran, who had thrown 85 pitches at the time.

But for KARA, age was just a number. He mixed in six pitch types across a total of 84 pitches, including a four-seam fastball (9 pitches) reaching up to 149 km/h, cutters (25), changeups (21), two-seam fastballs (11), sliders (11), and curves (7). Despite a top speed 9 km/h slower than Kwak Bin's, he achieved a quality start (6+ innings with 3 or fewer earned runs) through efficient pitching.

It was pitching reminiscent of his KBO League debut on August 1. KARA, with a career 112 wins in the big leagues, joined LG mid-season as a replacement foreign player for Yaxel Ciro and made his debut against Doosan at Jamsil on August 1. Although his pitch count was limited to around 70 pitches considering it was his first start, he achieved a perfect 7-inning game with just 74 pitches, leaving a strong impression. It was a flawless performance that did not allow a single batter to reach base.

Coincidentally, Doosan's starter at the time was also Kwak Bin. In this rematch realized after more than two months, KARA did not waver easily. His ability to handle high-pressure situations stood out from the start. In the top of the first inning with one out and a runner on second base, KARA retired Unio Severino (27) with a flyout to left field and Yang Eui-ji (39) with a swinging strikeout.

He also received help from defense. In the top of the second inning with one out and a runner on first base, third baseman Moon Bo-kyung (26) caught Jeong Soobin's (36) hard-hit ball as a line drive and threw to first base to complete a double play.

After that, the Doosan lineup struggled to attack KARA. A streak of consecutive outs began with one out and a runner on first in the top of the second inning and continued for 13 batters until he issued a walk to Jo Su-haeng (33) with one out in the top of the sixth inning.

In the meantime, KARA recorded three consecutive scoreless innings with 10 pitches in the third, 14 in the fourth, and 15 in the fifth. After allowing a walk to Jo Su-haeng, he retired Park Chan-ho (31) with a flyout to center field on the first pitch and An Jae-seok (24) with a flyout to center field on the fifth pitch to finish the sixth inning.

However, as his pitch count exceeded 80, trouble arrived. After allowing a single to center field to leadoff batter Severino in the top of the seventh inning, he gave up a double down the right-field line to Yang Eui-ji. LG was quickly in a no-out, runners-on-second-and-third-base jam and removed KARA, bringing in John Kennedy (32).

Kennedy struck out Kim Min-seok (22) on three pitches but allowed a hit-by-pitch to Kang Seung-ho (32), resulting in one out with the bases loaded. He then gave up a sacrifice fly to center field to pinch hitter Yang Seok-hwan (35), allowing one of KARA's inherited runners to score. The defense by center fielder Park Hae-min, who ran from a long distance and caught Yang Seok-hwan's ball right in front of the outfield wall, was also spectacular.

However, Kennedy ended the inning without further runs allowed, retiring pinch hitter Park Ji-hoon with a groundout to second base. KARA's run allowed was confirmed at 1, and LG's 2-1 lead was preserved.

On this day, LG set its lineup as Hong Chang-gi (right fielder) - Park Hae-min (center fielder) - Austin Dean (designated hitter) - Moon Jung-bin (first baseman) - Moon Bo-kyung (third baseman) - Song Chan-ui (left fielder) - Koo Bon-hyuk (shortstop) - Park Dong-won (catcher) - Shin Min-jae (second baseman).

In response, Doosan arranged its starting batting order as Park Chan-ho (shortstop) - An Jae-seok (third baseman) - Severino (first baseman) - Yang Eui-ji (designated hitter) - Kim Min-seok (left fielder) - Kang Seung-ho (second baseman) - Jeong Soobin (center fielder) - Yoon Jun-ho (catcher) - Jo Su-haeng (right fielder).

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original