SEOUL– After stifling the Kiwoom Heroes during the regular season, KT Wiz starter Wes Benjamin extended that dominance of the same foes in a crucial playoff game Monday night.
Benjamin tossed seven shutout innings and struck out nine, as the Wiz beat the Heroes 2-0 in Game 2 of the first round in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason.
That victory at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul evened the best-of-five series at one game apiece. The series resumes Wednesday at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, just south of the capital city.
Benjamin had made a surprise bullpen appearance in the wild card victory over the Kia Tigers last Thursday. It fell on what would have been his bullpen day in between starts, and Benjamin struck out the side on two days’ rest in that game.
Benjamin said he was pitching so hard on adrenaline in that game that he was a bit sore afterward. But he recovered in time for Monday’s start.
“The adrenaline is a little bit higher out of the bullpen. It’s really difficult to be able to manage and control if you’re not used to it,” Benjamin said. “I’m grateful to have had experience in the United States, especially in the major leagues, coming out of the bullpen. But it was a quick switch for me to go back and forth, and I’m glad it went well.”
Benjamin, who signed with the Wiz in May to replaced injured William Cuevas, pitched better against the Heroes than any other opponent during the regular season. In four starts, he posted a 0.78 ERA, with only two earned runs allowed in 23 innings. The Heroes managed just 12 hits against the American left-hander.
The trend held up Monday, as Benjamin held the Heroes without a hit until one out in the fourth inning.
Lee Jung-hoo ended the no-hit bid with a single, and Kim Hye-seong followed with an infield single off Benjamin’s glove, as the pitcher failed to make a circus backhand catch on the comebacker.
But Benjamin struck out the next two batters, including former National League All-Star Yasiel Puig, whiffing on his bread-and-butter slider.
Lee once again tried to get something going against Benjamin, dumping a double to shallow left field with two outs in the sixth. Benjamin, who had been fooling hitters all game with sliders, froze Kim Hye-seong with a 2-2 fastball to end that threat.
On that double by Lee off a slider, Benjamin said he was happy with the pitch and location.
“He’s a great hitter. I expect nothing less,” Benjamin added. “What hurt the most was the wink he gave me after (the hit), standing on second base, and I tried to congratulate him.”
The only other jam against Benjamin came with two outs in the seventh, when the lefty allowed back-to-back singles. Song Sung-mun, the offensive hero of Game 1 with two RBIs, stepped in looking to put his team on the board, but Benjamin put out the fire by getting Song to ground out to shortstop.
“I had to still attack the zone. We had the top of the order coming up after so I needed to make sure that I forced them to put the ball in play or if they swing and miss, that’s great, too,” Benjamin said. “But I knew I wasn’t going to try to walk anybody or be too fine around the corners. So I was able to execute that plan, and it worked out well.”
KT’s defense helped Benjamin, too. In the bottom fifth, left fielder Anthony Alford took an extra-base hit away from Song with a leaping catch at the wall.
Benjamin took off his cap and raised his arms to acknowledge his teammate and celebrate the great catch. And there was plenty more to celebrate for the Wiz, as they pulled even in the series behind their ace.
Benjamin made 100 pitches, 73 of them strikes. Six of his nine strikeouts came via whiffs on sliders.
Benjamin also helped save the exhausted KT bullpen. They only needed one reliever to close out the win, as the 19-year-old rookie Park Yeong-hyun threw two perfect innings to become the youngest pitcher to record a postseason save in KBO history.
Park said he’d mentally checked out after a perfect eighth inning, thinking his night was done, but had to regroup when manager Lee Kang-chul asked him to go back for the ninth.
Park, who made 52 appearances, after a brief stint in the minors, said he has been gaining more confidence as the season progressed, with his body rounding into form after a sluggish April and May.
“I didn’t think I’d get a chance to pick up a save in such a huge game,” said Park, who got the game ball from catcher Jang Sung-woo after Jang caught a pop fly for the final out. “I am so honored and proud.”
Source: Yonhap News Agency