(LEAD) Nearly flawless, Bears' Alcantara earns 20th win in KBO season finale

유지호 / 2020-10-30 21:59:41

(LEAD) baseball-pitcher

▲ Raul Alcantara of the Doosan Bears pitches against the Kiwoom Heroes during a Korea Baseball Organization regular season game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Oct. 30, 2020. (Yonhap)

(LEAD) baseball-pitcher

(LEAD) Nearly flawless, Bears' Alcantara earns 20th win in KBO season finale

(ATTN: UPDATES with playoff seeding in para 14)

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Oct. 30 (Yonhap) -- Doosan Bears' right-hander Raul Alcantara was nearly perfect on the mound Friday, capping off a strong season with his best start in South Korea to date.

Alcantara claimed his league-best 20th win by throwing eight shutout innings against the Kiwoom Heroes at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, helping the Bears to a 2-0 victory in their final game of the 2020 Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) regular season.

The second-year KBO pitcher was perfect through 5 2/3 innings and gave up just two singles while striking out five. He ended the year at 20-2 with a 2.54 ERA.

To wit: Alcantara lost his Opening Day start on May 5. Then over his next 30 starts, he went 20-1. His last loss came on Aug. 26.

Though Alcantara has struck out his share of batters this season -- he came in ranked second overall with 177 -- he relied more on soft contact early in the count to work his way through the Heroes' lineup.

He retired the first 17 batters he faced -- via five strikeouts, seven groundouts, two infield pop flies and three line drives to first baseman Oh Jae-il. No. 9 hitter Huh Jung-heop broke the string of zeroes with a single to right field. After a visit from pitching coach Kim Won-hyong, Alcantara retired the next batter to close out the sixth inning.

"I wasn't paying attention to the perfect game bid. I was just trying to make one good pitch after another," the Dominican pitcher said through an interpreter afterward. "When I gave up that first hit, I told myself, 'Okay, there's that hit. I am going to start fresh now.'"

Alcantara then worked a clean seventh inning on 11 pitches, and needed another 11 pitches to retire the side in order in the eighth.

After Addison Russell led off the top ninth with a single, on Alcantara's 104th pitch of the night, the Bears' bench had seen enough. Closer Lee Young-ha made sure Alcantara would get his 20th win by retiring the next three batters in order.

Alcantara said the coaching staff's plan had been to pull him if one batter reached base in the ninth inning.

"I was feeling fine physically, but I had also thrown over 100 pitches," Alcantara said. "I think the final score proves that we made the right decision."

Only three balls left the infield against Alcantara, who threw 77 of his 104 pitches for strikes.

He touched 155 kilometers per hour with his fastball, after averaging a league-best 151.6 kph prior to this game.

The game had significant postseason implications for both clubs. The Bears began the day in fifth place, having already secured one of five playoff spots, and ended up moving up to third place thanks to their own victory and a loss by the LG Twins, who came into Friday ranked third but finished in fourth after losing to the SK Wyverns 3-2.

Alcantara said he embraced the pressure-packed, playoff-like buildup to Friday's start.

"I go into every start trying to help the team win," he said. "I want to thank my manager (Kim Tae-hyoung) for giving me the opportunity to start such an important game. I am obviously pleased that I got my 20th win and I rewarded my manager's trust in me."

(END)