Doosan, which is on the cusp of the postseason, was all smiles after a strong outing from ace Raul Alcantara.
Doosan won 6-1 against Kiwoom at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on April 22. With the win, Doosan, which is fifth in the postseason standings, closed the gap between sixth-place 현금홀덤사이트 KIA and seventh-place Lotte.
The team also continued its strong form, winning five straight games against Kiwoom, dating back to June 25 against Gochuk.
Most importantly, Doosan was pleased with the performance of starting pitcher Raul Alcantara. Alcantara pitched seven innings of three-hit ball with one walk and seven strikeouts to earn a quality start. He picked up his 11th win of the season (5-0), almost a month after his last start against KIA on April 21. With his 18th quality start of the season, he also lowered his ERA from 2.34 to 2.23, moving up one spot to second in the league in that category. It is the first time in eight games that a Doosan starter has earned a quality start since Brandon Waddell (six innings, one run) on April 11 against Daejeon.
In addition to snapping a two-game losing streak, Alcantara also reaffirmed his status as the “Kiwoom Killer” by winning nine straight games against Kiwoom dating back to April 11, 2019. He also continued his dominance in the dome by winning four straight games at the Gocheok Dome.
Alcantara threw a no-hitter until the fifth inning when he was hit by a leadoff single to right by Lee Ju-hyung. In the fifth, the inning ended when Lim Byung-wook was hit by a pitch with runners on second and third and Joo Sung-won was thrown out at the plate. In seven innings, Lim threw 101 pitches. He used a mix of fastballs (59), forks (29), sliders (9), changeups (3), and curves (1) to keep the Kiwoom bats in check.
After the game, Alcantara said, “I’m really happy just for the team win, more than the individual win. We haven’t gotten a win in the last four games and it’s because I wasn’t good enough. I focused on pitching aggressively from the beginning of the game and it paid off, and my changeup was going down low like I wanted it to,” he said.
“I wanted to get through the seventh inning and then come down,” Alcantara said. “I wanted to finish the game under 100 because I’m also scheduled to pitch on Sunday (against SSG on Sunday), and I’m only one over at 101, so I’m fine. I will prepare well until Sunday and show a good performance.”
Doosan manager Lee Seung-yeop said, “Alcantara was dominant from the first to the seventh inning. It was the best pitching of an ace. Jang Seung-hyun, who batted with the battery, also gave Alcantara a steady lead.” He also praised his catcher, Jang Seung-hyun.