Doosan Bears foreign pitcher Brandon Waddell suffered his second loss of the season after delivering his worst performance of the season.
Brandon started the 10th game of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League against the LG Twins at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, South Korea, on April 30 and gave up eight runs (seven earned) on seven hits, five walks, and one strikeout in four innings. It was the first time Brandon had given up more than seven earned runs in a game, including last season.
Brandon got off to a rocky start. In the first inning, he walked leadoff hitter Hong Chang-ki, but after a nine-pitch at-bat, he allowed second baseman Moon Sung-ju to reach first base. Kim Hyun-soo’s grounder gave him some respite, but the inning didn’t last long as he gave up a single to Austin Dean with the bases loaded. Brandon then gave up a two-run double to Moon Bo-Kyung over the left field fence.
This was just the beginning. In the top of the second inning, Brandon gave up a hit by pitch to leadoff hitter Heo Do-hwan, and after a sacrifice bunt by Park Hae-min and a grounder by Shin Min-jae, he gave up another run on a single by Hong Chang-gi with two outs.
The tide turned in the top of the third inning. After leadoff hitter Moon Sung-joo struck out, back-to-back singles by Kim Hyun-soo and Austin put runners on first and second. Brandon got Moon to fly out to center for the second out, but Son Ho-young singled to center.
Heo Do-hwan then walked to load the bases before Park Hae-min singled to left. Heo Do-hwan and Park Hae-min raced home, as did Austin and Son Ho-young, who took advantage of a throwing error by catcher Yang Ji-ji at third base. In an instant, the gap between the two teams had grown to eight runs.안전놀이터
Naturally, Brandon’s pitch count increased dramatically in the process, and after a scoreless fourth inning, he had to hand the mound over to Lee Young-ha to start the fifth. On the day, Brandon’s fastball was clocked at 151 km/h, and his most common pitches were his fastball (44), slider-cut fastball (23+), changeup (2), and curveball (2).
Doosan was hoping to end July on a high note, but Brandon’s struggles have deepened their woes. The team is currently down 0-9 in the fifth inning, and if the game ends this way, Doosan will fall into a five-game losing streak for the first time in the Lee era.