Lotte snapped a three-game losing streak with the third “team no-hitter” in baseball history.
Lotte clinched a 1-0 victory at SSG in Sajik Anbang on June 6 behind seven innings of one-hit, six-strikeout ball from Wilkerson, who was brought in as a late-season replacement foreign player, an eighth-inning triple play by set-up man Koo Seung-min, and the 19th save of the season from closer Kim Won-joong.
SSG’s starter McCarty pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and one walk, but the tie was broken in the bottom of the eighth when Moon Seung-won, who came on with the score tied at 0-0, gave up a single to Yoon Dong-hee with runners on first and second.
After getting two outs in the top of the ninth, Kim Won-joong gave up a walk to SSG’s No. 1 hitter Choo Shin-soo and a wild pitch to load the bases, but he got No. 2 hitter Choi Ji-hoon to ground out to first base to end the no-hitter. Choo drew a walk in the seventh inning to break Wilkerson’s perfect game.
“It was actually coming off a personal no-hitter, so as a manager, I wanted to keep the ball in his hand, but it was his second start of the week and he threw almost 100 pitches (at 95), so I had to think about the rest of the season,” said Lotte manager Sutton.
While there have been a total of 14 no-hitters thrown by a single pitcher in professional baseball, there have only been two team no-hitters thrown by multiple pitchers.
The first record was set by LG in 2014 (Oct. 6 against the Jamsil NC). Shin Jeong-rak (now with Lotte) threw seven and a third innings with nine strikeouts, Yoo Won-sang (now with the women’s national baseball team) threw one and a third innings, and Shin Jae-woong (now with LG’s residual pitching staff) threw one and a third innings. LG went on to win the game 1-0.
The second and most recent record was SSG, who dropped their record to Lotte on the same day. SSG’s Font, who started last year’s opening game, pitched a perfect game against Changwon NC, throwing 104 pitches and striking out nine while not allowing a hit or walk until the ninth inning. However, he had to settle for an unofficial “nine-inning perfect” as the teams were unable to break a 0-0 tie through the regular season. Even then, the win went to the team with the no-hitter. SSG’s bats scored four runs in the top of the 10th inning, while Kim Taek-hyung pitched a scoreless 10th inning on the mound.
Interestingly, both of the previous team no-hitters went on to play fall baseball that year. Lotte was on a tear this season, winning nine games in a row for the first time in 15 years until May 2 to take sole possession of first place for the first time in 11 years since 2012. However, their last top spot was on May 19, and by July 13, they were down to fifth place and are currently in seventh place (44-49), 4.5 games behind fifth-place Doosan (47-44).
In Jamsil, KT’s Ko Young-pyo pitched seven innings of one-run ball against Doosan to lead the team to a 3-1 victory. With five consecutive quality starts (QS+ – seven innings or more and three runs or less), starting on July 8 against KIA, Ko became the first player in the club’s history to record 10 wins in three consecutive years. This season, Ko has 16 quality starts (QS-6 innings or more and 3 runs or less), 14 of which have been QS+. Both are tied for first in the league.
Leading LG snapped a two-game losing streak and beat Samsung 7-4 in Daegu behind five innings of one-run, five-hit, seven-strikeout ball from starter Chan-gyu Lim. After roaring out of a bases-loaded jam in the third inning with a line drive to second base and two strikeouts, Lim Chan-kyu struck out the side with runners on first and third in the fifth and did a dance of joy after getting out of the inning. The only one of LG’s homegrown starters to remain in the starting rotation since April, Im improved to 8-2 on the season. LG also extended its lead over second-place SSG to 4.5 games.
Kiwoom lost 7-12 to NC in Changwon, their eighth straight loss. Outfielder Lee Joo-hyung (Kiwoom), who joined the team in a trade with Choi Won-tae (LG) on March 29, hit his second home run of the season and career three days after registering his first professional home run against LG on March 3, but it was overshadowed by the team’s loss. Kiwoom is now 1-8-1 in its last 10 games. Riding a four-game winning streak, NC is tied for third place with fourth-place KT, who also won on the day.메이저놀이터
In Gwangju, Hanwha and KIA battled to a 4-4 tie in the 12th inning. Hanwha led 4-2 after starter Moon Dong-ju gave up two runs (one earned) in five and one-third innings and left the mound in need of his seventh win of the season, but KIA scored one run in the eighth and ninth innings on Socrates’ push double and Na Sung-beom’s RBI single to extend the game. KIA pitched two innings of scoreless relief from Jung Hae-young and three innings of scoreless relief from Lee Tae-yang of Hanwha, but no one was smiling in the 12th inning. Home run leader Noh Si-hwan (Hanwha) led off the fourth inning with his 23rd home run of the season to close the gap on second-place Choi Jung (20).