I think it’s safe to say that Casey “Jamsil Jesus” Kelly is definitely back from the dead.
The LG Twins’ Kelly has regained his ace form. He pitched seven scoreless innings for the first time this season.
On June 6, Kelly started the game against the KT Wiz at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, South Korea, and pitched a complete game, allowing just two hits and two walks while striking out eight in seven innings. With his team up 1-0, he came down with the win-loss requirement, and with a 3-0 lead heading into the top of the ninth inning, it looked like Kelly was going to pick up his ninth win of the season, but a blown save by Go Woo-seok in the bottom of the inning cost him the win and a 3-2 loss.
Still, it’s nice to see the team return to its steady, dominant form from last year.
Kelida has been too erratic this season. She broke down easily and struggled to get through innings. There was even talk of replacing her during the season. However, the coaching staff, including manager Yoon Kyung-yeop, decided to keep faith with him, and he gradually began to repay their faith.
On August 24, Kelly pitched six innings of three-hit ball against the Lotte Giants in Jamsil, giving him his first no-hitter of the season, and on August 31, he continued to pitch well against Doosan in Jamsil, giving up one run on seven hits in six innings.메이저사이트
The game against KT on the 6th was important. He hadn’t had much luck against KT this year. In the opener on April 1, he gave up eight hits (two home runs) and six runs in 5⅓ innings, and on July 6 in Jamsil, he gave up seven hits and five runs in 5⅔ innings. He was 1-0 with a 9.00 ERA in two games against KT, but this time he pitched a perfect game with seven scoreless innings. After getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning with a single and a fastball, Kelly got out of a jam in the second inning with a triple, but in the third inning, he gave up a leadoff double to Jang Jun-won and was in danger of losing the lead on a sacrifice bunt by Jang in the ninth. However, Kim Min-hyuk, No. 1, fielded a grounder in front of the second baseman to stop the runner from moving to third, and Hwang Jae-gyun, No. 2, grounded out to the second baseman for the second out. The fourth, fifth, and sixth innings ended easily with a triple play, and the seventh inning was the final straw. After giving up a walk to Park Byung-ho in the fourth, the catcher’s throw to first put runners on second and third with two outs, Kang hit pinch-hitter Baek-ho Kang on an automatic high four, then caught Lee Ho-yeon on a fly ball to left field and roared back to the dugout. It was his last.
His fastball topped out at 151 mph on the day, and he used an even mix of two-seamers, sliders, curves, and changeups to keep KT hitters off balance.
In his last three starts, he has an impressive 0.47 ERA in 19 innings pitched. He has walked just three batters while striking out 17.
With Adam Plutko out with an injury, they needed an ace to carry the lineup, and Kelly’s return to form gives them hope, albeit in a losing effort.