Roenis Elias
Who took the mound in the first game of the best-of-three semifinal playoffs (Semi-Po5), pitched a
dominant game before being shut down by a home run.
Elias started Game 1 of the 2023 Shinhan Bank Shootout KBO Semifinals at SSG Landers Field in
Incheon, South Korea, on April 22 and pitched eight innings, allowing two runs on four hits (one home run).
He struck out six and didn’t walk a batter, but gave up the decisive home run in the eighth inning.
Of SSG’s two foreign pitchers, Elias beat out native left-handed ace Kim Kwang-hyun for the Game
1 start as Kirk McCarty hasn’t pitched since suffering right oblique soreness against the Lotte Giants on March 23.
Since donning the SSG uniform as a replacement in early May, Elias has pitched 131⅓ innings in 22
games, posting an 8-6 record with a 3.70 ERA.
He had some ups and downs as he adjusted to the KBO, but gradually got better. In August, he
went 2-2 with a 2.79 ERA in five games.
Against NC, he didn’t fare as well, going 1-1 with a 7.53 ERA in three games.
Unlike his regular-season opponent, Elias pitched a solid game until the seventh inning, when he
gave up a solo home run to Sung-Wook Kim in the eighth.
Elias continued to pitch a perfect game, not allowing a single batter to reach base until the third
inning. He struck out Seo Ho-cheol and Kim Hyung-jun, who each hit a pair of home runs in the wild-card game against the Doosan Bears.
In the top of the fourth inning, Elias struck out leadoff hitter Son As-seob, but gave up back-to-back
singles to Park Min-woo and Park Gun-woo. SSG shortstop Park Sung-han tried to catch Park’s hit
with his backhand, but it slipped past his glove and out of the outfield.
No runs were scored. Martin flied out to right and Kwon Hee-dong fouled out to first.
After getting out of the jam, Eleas went back to work. From the fifth through the seventh innings, he
didn’t allow a single batter to reach base.
The scoreless streak was broken in the eighth inning.
Elias walked leadoff hitter Seo Ho-cheol to start the inning. He induced an infield grounder, but SSG
shortstop Park Sung-ho failed to catch the irregularly bound ball.
Elias seemed to get a breather when he caught a sacrifice bunt from Kim Hyung-jun and threw to
second base, leaving the runner on first.
But then he was hit by a pinch-hitter, Kim Sung-wook. Kim took advantage of Elias’ first-pitch
changeup and smashed it over the left-center field fence for a two-run home run.
Elias struck out Kim Joo-won and Son Ah-seop on infield grounders to keep the game from getting out of hand.
Faced with the prospect of losing the game after pitching well but not getting the bats going, Elias
handed the mound over to Noh Kyung-eun in the top of the ninth. 슬롯사이트