Overcoming a 10-Run Nightmare, He Moves Into Sole Lead in Wins... Choi Min-seok, Pitching with Less Effort, Hints at a Golden Asian Games Run

[Financial News] The Doosan Bears of the KBO League earned a lopsided home victory behind a near-perfect blend of pitching and hitting. Starter Choi Min-seok moved into sole possession of the wins lead, while the lineup unleashed 16 hits, including a towering home run that struck the Jamsil Baseball Stadium scoreboard.
Doosan beat the Kiwoom Heroes 15-1 on the 30th in a regular-season home game of the 2026 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul.
The biggest reason for the win was the 20-year-old right-hander Choi Min-seok, who is mocking the so-called sophomore slump. He threw 87 pitches over six innings, allowing six hits, including one home run, with one walk, five strikeouts and one run. He earned his 13th win of the season against three losses. Last month, he endured a brutal stretch of near-misses and even suffered the nightmare of giving up 10 runs in a single game, but he has since shown remarkable resilience by going 4-0 in August alone. With this victory, Choi moved past LG Twins pitcher Lim Chan-kyu, who had 12 wins, to take the league lead outright.
The offense exploded from the first inning and made life easier for the pitching staff. With runners on first and second and no outs, Doosan opened the scoring on Park Jun-soon's double down the left-field line. Yang Eui-ji followed with a two-run single, and Yunior Severino, Jo Soo-haeng and Jung Soo-bin each added RBI hits as Doosan piled up six runs in the opening frame.
The home run barrage was just as fierce. In the bottom of the fifth, Ahn Jae-seok pulled a slider from reliever Kim Seon-gi and launched a 130-meter two-run shot to right field, marking back-to-back games with a homer. The highlight came in the sixth. With one out and a runner on first, foreign hitter Yunior Severino crushed a 145-meter two-run blast to center field off Kiwoom's Jung Hyun-woo, sending the ball into the center scoreboard at Jamsil Baseball Stadium. It was his first home run in his 21st KBO League game. Doosan sealed the 15-1 rout in the eighth with Oh Myung-jin's pinch-hit three-run homer and an RBI single by Jo Soo-haeng, who celebrated his own birthday.


Choi said his recent surge has come from "mental control" and "taking some power off." He explained that pitching with less effort and simply aiming near his intended spots has actually led to better command. Even with a grueling schedule that has him taking the mound twice a week, he has managed to win both games.
What is interesting is that the 20-year-old, now alone in first place in wins, has his eyes not on an individual title but on the Taegeuk Mark. Choi, who is set to join the South Korea national baseball team for the Asian Games on Sept. 14, could see his chances of winning the pitching crown shrink because national team duties will reduce his regular-season appearances.
Choi, however, was firm. "I really have no greed for the wins title. There will be plenty of chances for that later," he said. "Right now, the Asian Games are the most important thing to me." The remark underscored the maturity of the 20-year-old ace, who is putting national duty ahead of personal glory.
Meanwhile, for Kiwoom, starter Jeon Jun-pyo failed once again to record his first win and could not stop the team's fourth straight loss.


[email protected] Jeon Sang-il Reporter