토토사이트The Doosan Bears, who once looked beyond third place and into second place, are now worried about fall baseball after going 1-4 in their last five games. It will be interesting to see if Jang Won-jun, the 132-win left-hander, can be the savior.
Doosan’s so-called fateful eight-game series is off to a bad start. After a win over Lotte in Jamsil on the 8th, they had nine days off before starting an eight-game series on the 10th, but gave up a shocking walk-off double to closer Chung Chul-won against KT in Suwon on the first day, and were swept 3-14 on the 11th against Lotte, whose fall schedule had already been derailed. From starter Choi Won-jun (3 runs in 1⅔ innings) to Park Shin-ji (5 runs in 2 innings), Lee Byung-heon (2 runs in 1⅓ innings), and Je Hwan-yu (4 runs in 2 innings), the Lotte bats all struggled.
By the end of September, Doosan was in fourth place, a whopping three games ahead of fifth-place SSG, with dreams of moving beyond the semifinals and directly into the playoffs. Their lead over second-place KT was also just three games, and on October 6, they held a three-game lead over third-place KT, but a slump in their last five games, with one win and four losses, saw the gap between them and third-place SSG and NC widen to 1.5 games. Instead, they are now in fifth place, two games behind sixth-place KIA. Unless there is a major turnaround in the remaining six games, they may have to watch the postseason on TV for the second year in a row.
In desperation, Doosan once again turned to 132-win lefty Jang Won-jun for an SOS. Jang Won-jun, who has a lot of good memories against NC this year, was announced as the starter against NC in Jamsil on Wednesday. “NC is a team that is in a direct standings battle, so the game on the 12th is important,” said Doosan manager Lee Seung-yeop. “Jang Won-jun hasn’t performed badly against NC. His last start wasn’t bad either. As a veteran, I think he will be able to fight well against the opponent with his experience.”
Jang Won-jun, who is playing romantic baseball with an extension of his active duty, is 3-4 with a 4.76 ERA in nine games this season. In his most recent appearance, he pitched 1⅓ innings of relief against Jamsil Lotte on September 7, allowing one run (unearned). It was his first start in about three weeks since September 24 against the Changwon NC, when he was pulled early after giving up two runs in 3⅓ innings.
Jang Won-jun has been Doosan’s calling card in the NC this year. In four NC games this season, he has a 1-2 record with a 2.81 ERA. On June 13 in Changwon, he pitched six innings of three-hit ball with two walks and two strikeouts to secure the win. However, Jang hasn’t recorded a win since that day. It will be interesting to see if he can live up to Lee’s trust by showing off his veteran savvy in crunch time.
This will be the final meeting of the season (Game 16) between Doosan and NC. NC holds a slim 8-7 lead in the series.
Meanwhile, NC’s counterpart is submarine Lee Jae-hak. His season record is 4-4 with a 3.98 ERA in 13 games, and he took the loss in his most recent outing on September 5 against the Incheon SSG, giving up four runs in 4⅔ innings. He made one start against Doosan this year, on September 23 in Changwon, where he failed to pick up a win despite throwing six scoreless innings.
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