Doosan Bears foreign-born pitcher Brandon Waddell picked up his eighth win of the season and led the team to a crucial doubleheader victory. In particular, his 117-pitch complete-game performance was a huge boost to the team’s mound operation.
On September 9, Brandon started the second game of the doubleheader against Samsung at Jamsil Stadium and pitched seven innings of two-hit ball, striking out seven and walking four in the team’s 5-1 win.
Doosan got off to a good start in the first inning as Brandon worked out of a jam with runners on first and second. Brandon allowed runners to reach base in the top of the second and third innings, but settled down to get out of the inning without allowing a run.
Doosan came alive in the bottom of the third. With runners on first and third in the bottom of the inning after a single by Kang Seung-ho and a walk by Kim Jae-ho, Doosan scored the game’s first run when Yang Seok-hwan doubled to left-center field. After a walk to Kim Jae-hwan put runners on first and second with no outs, Yang hit a two-run double to left-center field. The runner from first base, Kim Jae-hwan, was overturned as an out after a video review.
With no further runs scored, Brandon struggled on the mound. Brandon got through the top of the fourth and fifth innings without incident to earn his eighth win of the season.
Brandon took the mound in the top of the sixth and got a quality start with a triple play. Then, in the top of the seventh, Brandon, who was approaching 100 pitches, gave up a single to Jae-hyun Lee. With the count well over 100, Brandon induced a seven-pitch grounder to center field against Oh Jae-il and a four-pitch grounder to second base against Kim Ho-jae to end the inning. He threw a whopping 117 pitches in seven innings.
On the day, Brandon threw 69 strikes out of a total of 117 pitches. Brandon used a mix of sliders (30), changeups (4), and curves (1) to keep the Samsung bats at bay, centered around his 145 km/h fastball (45) and cutter (37).
Doosan scored a valuable extra run in the bottom of the eighth inning on a wild pitch with runners on first and third to seal the win.
After the game, Doosan manager Lee Seung-yeop said, “We were worried about the mound because we were playing two games today, but Brandon was able to take care of business until the seventh inning. Since joining the team in June, Brandon has shown a great sense of responsibility in every game. He did his job perfectly today,” he said.
“In the batting order, Yang Seok-hwan hit a crucial double in the third inning, and in the next at-bat, Yang Ji lived up to the expectations of the bench. We didn’t get any more runs after that, but our defense held strong and we were able to get the win. We would like to thank our fans for their enthusiastic support in both the first and second games of the doubleheader. They really helped the players stay strong and finish the day on a high note.”
With the win, Brandon improved to 8-0 on the season. Since returning to Doosan midseason as a substitute foreign player, Brandon has been on a remarkable pace to accumulate eight wins (three losses) in 12 appearances.
“It was a doubleheader, so there was a lot of pressure on the outfield and the bullpen,” Brandon said after the game, “so I came out with the intention of going long innings. I threw 96 pitches (in the sixth inning), and when I came out in the seventh inning, I was just thinking about getting through the seventh inning, no matter how many pitches I had.안전놀이터
“The hitters came through at key times and the bullpen did a great job closing out the rest of the inning. Personally, I think a flowing win is a textbook win for a team, where the starters go long, the bats come through at the right time, and the bullpen settles down. That’s what we did today,” he said.
Brandon was looking ahead to fall baseball and the Korean Series. “When we came back to Korea this year, we said that our goal was to make the Korean Series. It’s not about the long term, it’s about the day in front of you. The Doosan Bears are focused on each day. We know that the Doosan fans support us as hard as they do every day. We will do our best every day to repay their support.”