Pitching to the pitcher with no outs–Doosan sets a record for most runs scored in a single inning in a game
Kiwoom started the year with a two-catcher system of Kim Jae-hyun and Kim Dong-heon, but Kim suffered an elbow injury shortly after the start of the season when he was sent to the second team with a pitching problem. He hasn’t been able to return, so Kim Jae-hyun has been playing full-time.
Kim Jae-hyun, whose pace has dropped recently, started from the bench against Jamsil Doosan on Sept. 19. Kiwoom put a mask on Park Joon-hyung to rest him. It was Park’s fourth appearance for the first team this year. He started at catcher for the first time in six days after appearing in two games as a substitute against Lotte on March 13.
Leading 6-4, Kiwoom tied the game in the bottom of the fourth inning. In the bottom of the fourth, after starter Kim Sun-ki was pulled after three innings and Son Hyun-ki came in to pitch, Yang tied the game with a double down the right field line with runners on first and second. Kiwoom’s run would be the difference in the game for Doosan, as a catcher’s error in the bottom of the inning completely derailed the momentum.
With the score tied 6-6 and runners on second and third, Son drew two consecutive strikes after the first pitch against Doosan’s No. 4 hitter, Kim Jae-hwan, to work a favorable count. The fourth pitch, a slider down and away, was ruled a borderline strike by the ABS as catcher Park Jun-hyung tried to catch it and it hit the mitt.
It was a strike, but he didn’t catch it, so it was a strike and out. The catcher is supposed to pick up the ball and quickly tag the batter, but Park Jun-hyung caught the ball and threw it back to the pitcher in a relaxed manner. Kim Jae-hwan, who had his head down in anticipation of the tag, took a quick step toward first base when the catcher showed no sign of tagging him, and when he saw Park Jun-hyung throwing to the pitcher, he sprinted to first base.
He yelled at the pitcher to throw to first, but it was too late. What could have been a strikeout to extend the runners to second and third, turned into a bases-loaded double play due to the catcher’s maddening error.
In the midst of the chaos, Son gave up a two-run single to No. 5 hitter Kang Seung-ho on a six-pitch count to left field. Doosan’s offense continued to rally to make it 8-6. Ramos, Jeon Min-jae, and Kim Ki-yeon followed with back-to-back singles and Kiwoom scored nine runs in the fourth inning before shortstop Kim Hwi-jip made a throwing error at first base after Jung Soo-bin’s grounder to second base. The score was 6-13, and the game was out of 안전놀이터 reach.
Doosan scored all of its runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. It was the 17th time in KBO history that all starters scored in an inning, and the first time in five years since Hanwha did it in the top of the third inning on April 7, 2019, against Sasik Lotte.
Heo Kyung-min, who had been the only player without a hit until the fifth inning, also recorded a hit for Doosan in the bottom of the sixth inning with a bases-loaded double. Doosan totaled 22 hits and four walks on the day, scoring 19 runs and winning 19-8.
Doosan’s foreign-born outfielder Henry Ramos, who returned to the first team two weeks after being removed from the roster on May 5 due to a batting slump, went 3-for-5 with a home run, four RBIs and two runs scored.
