NC·KT, 30th KBO PO 1st game
1st game winning team KS probability 78.1% Cuevas, the main
character of KT’s first combined championship,
NC Peddy, who achieved the
triple crown, attention in the ‘big match’ between the two teams’ powerful starters
‘Super Ace’ NC Eric Peddy (30) A head-to-head match between the ‘heroic wizard’ KT William Cuevas (33) takes place.
KT and NC will hold the first round of the playoffs (PO, 3 wins out of 5) at KT Wiz Park in Suwon on the 30th. The 1st, 2nd, and 5th games will be held in Suwon, the home stadium of 2nd place KT (79 wins, 62 losses, 3 draws) in the regular season, and the 3rd and 4th games will be held at Changwon NC Park, the home of 4th place NC (75 wins, 67 losses, 2 draws). As the probability of the team winning the first game advancing to the Korean Series (KS, 4 wins out of 7) in the historical 5-game, 3-win PO system is 78.1% (25 out of 32), the two teams will start the most reliable pitchers in the first game side by side. It was predicted.
KT puts forward Cuevas. Cuevas, who has been playing for KT since 2019, was released early last year due to an elbow injury, but returned to KT in the middle of this season. Cuevas pitched 7 scoreless innings after a 4-day break in the regular season first place match against Samsung on October 31, 2021, and also pitched 7.2 innings with 8 strikeouts and 1 run in KS, playing a leading role in KT’s first comprehensive championship this season.
In this way, Cuevas appeared at the moment of crisis and saved the team. He joined KT, which was ranked 10th at the beginning of this season, in June, and raised the team to second place with 12 wins, no losses, and an ERA of 2.60 in 18 games, 114.1 innings. Cuevas allowed 5 hits and 2 runs in 6 innings in 1 game against NC. His career record before NC is 11 games, 4 wins, 3 losses, and an average ERA of 3.38. The person on alert is NC Son Ah-seop (35). He recorded a batting average of 0.667 against Cuevas this season, with 2 hits and 1 RBI in 3 at-bats. In addition, Seo Ho-cheol (27), Kwon Hee-dong (32), and Kim Joo-won (21) also hit hits against Cuevas. On the other hand, Jason Martin (28) was silent with no hits in three at-bats.
NC counterattacks with a pedi. He won the Triple Crown this season, ranking first with 20 wins, 6 losses, an ERA of 2.00, and 209 strikeouts. There are only four players who have achieved multiple wins, ERA, and strikeouts at the same time: Haitai Sun Dong-yeol (1986, 1989, 1990, 1991), Hanwha Ryu Hyun-jin (2006), KIA Yoon Seok-min (2011), and Peddie.
What is important is how well Pedi has recovered. Initially, Peddie was replaced after being hit on the right arm by a hard hit in the KIA game on the 16th. Although he avoided a major injury, Peddie missed all of fall baseball. NC coach Kang In-kwon planned to start the third game of the semi-playoffs with Pedi on the 25th, but changed the notice because Ace’s condition was not perfect. Peddie appeared in 3 games against KT, allowing 9 runs (5 earned runs) in 17 innings. His earned run average is 2.65, which is higher than his season record. Peddie must watch out for KT Anthony Alford (29). Alford hit hard when he faced Peddy with 5 hits in 8 at-bats and 2 home runs.
The key to the series is whether the NC batting lineup’s momentum will continue against KT. NC advanced to the PO undefeated by hitting a home run in every game in the semi-playoffs (semi-PO, 3 wins out of 5) against SSG. Park Geon-woo (33) is hitting hard with a batting average of 0.438 in the postseason, while Park Min-woo (30), Son A-seop, and Martin are also hitting .300.굿모닝토토 도메인
But KT’s mound is also strong. KT’s first to third starters, Cuevas, Ko Young-pyo (32), and Wes Benjamin (30), played well against NC. In particular, Pilseungjo Park Young-hyun (20) showed a strong performance against NC by allowing 1 run in 11.1 innings, and Kim Jae-yoon (33) allowed 1 run in 7.2 innings.