Connor Seabold (28) of the Samsung Lions in professional baseball achieved his first shutout victory since his KBO League debut.
Corner started the game against the Kiwoom Heroes in the “2024 Shinhan Bank SOL Bank KBO League” at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on the 27th and recorded a shutout with three hits, one strikeout and 11 strikeouts in nine innings.
Corner, who had three outs in the bottom of the first inning, also had one strikeout in the second inning, and had six consecutive hitters due to three outs. Conner, who sent out leadoff hitter Lim Byung-wook on an infield hit in the third inning, faced a crisis with one out and runners on first and second bases due to Kim Tae-jin’s sacrifice bunt and Kim Jae-hyun’s body hit, but he struck out Lee Joo-hyung and managed to escape the crisis by hitting Kim Hye-sung with a ground ball to the second base.
Corner had a hit by Bae Sang-kwon with two outs in the fourth inning. However, he ended the inning by catching Kim Gun-hee with a fly ball to the right field. In the fifth inning, he struck out both Lim Byung-wook and Kim Tae-jin, and sent out Kim Jae-hyun with a fly ball to the right field. Corner, who sent out leadoff hitter Lee Ju-hyeong with an infield hit in the sixth inning, caught Kim Hye-sung with a foul fly to the third baseman, and Song and Choi both struck out.
Corner, who had three outs in the seventh inning, took the mound in the eighth inning as well. Kim Tae-jin was caught with a fly ball to the shortstop, and Kim Jae-hyun was treated as a strikeout and not out. Corner, who continued to take the mound in the ninth inning, secured a complete shutout by securing all the center hit lines of Kiwoom that led to Kim Hye-sung, Song Sung-moon, and Choi Joo-hwan. Thanks to Corner’s shutout, Samsung won 1-0 and secured its second consecutive win. It is the first time in 836 days that a foreign pitcher from Samsung achieved a shutout since David Buchananan at the match against Doosan Bears in Daegu on May 14, 2022.
Connor said in an interview after the game, “I think the last time I was shut out was in 2018. It has a special meaning. It’s so nice to be able to shut out. Before the ninth inning, the coach came and asked me how I felt. At that time, I thought let’s give it a try, so I went out again in the ninth inning. It’s a rare opportunity for a pitcher. I faced the center batting line in the ninth inning, and I thought I’d give it a try because the results were good against Kiwoom’s center hitters today. I really wanted to shut out and I’m happy.” 스포츠토토
Connor, who recalled that he had a shutout victory in 2018, had never actually had a shutout victory in an official professional match before the game. Instead, Connor had a complete victory of three hits (one homer) and one walk, nine strikeouts and one run in nine innings at the Minor League’s High Single A on June 12, 2018 (Korea time). Connor had his first shutout victory in the professional league.
Corner, who recorded 113 pitches, used fastballs (55 pitches), sliders (28 pitches), sweeper (22 pitches), and change-up (8 pitches) to target Kiwoom’s batters. The maximum speed of fastballs was 152 km per hour. The strike rate reached 70.8 percent. Sliders were good enough to strike out eight.
Commenting on his 11th strikeout, Connor said, “The location was good and everything went well as planned. Before today’s game, I checked the batter’s reaction with catcher Lee Byung-hun through a fastball, and afterwards, when the numbers are read or the batters adjust, I started to use a cutter and a sweeper. This game plan resulted in good results through the ninth inning.”
Connor, who had 10 wins this season, said, “I’m so happy to have 10 wins. Winning or losing is not something I can decide. Just because I threw well doesn’t mean that I will win, and just because I threw poorly doesn’t mean that I will lose. It is all the more meaningful because it is a record that everyone made together.”
