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In the 32 playoffs held in the best-of-five series, there have been 25 cases in which the winning team in the first round advanced to the Korean Series. In other words, NC, ranked fourth in the regular league, which won the first game, has a 78.1% chance of advancing to the Korean Series.

For NC, Jason Martin, who hit a first sacrifice fly in the first inning, became the hero of the final hit, Oh Young-soo scored three hits, two RBIs and one run, Kwon Hee-dong scored three hits, three RBIs and two runs, and Son Ah-seop scored three hits and one RBI. NC increased its run to five points after hitting a grand slam by Bae Jung-dae after two outs in the ninth inning, but blocked the kt lineup with only one run in 8.2 innings. It was thanks to the brilliant pitching of "Super Ace" Eric Peddy, who recorded three hits, 12 strikeouts and one run in six innings in his first appearance in autumn baseball.

First Triple Crown for a Foreign Pitcher

Ten KBO League teams signed two foreign pitchers per team ahead of the opening of this season. Of course, the ransom was different for each foreign pitcher, but each expressed his determination and confidence to play full time as a starting pitcher. Clubs, coaching staff, and fans also believed that the foreign duo, who had been painstakingly recruited, would cooperate with at least 20 wins and at least 30 wins as a starting one-two punch. However, when the lid was actually opened, the expectations of the club and fans were often far off.

In fact, only nine of the 20 foreign pitchers who had the opening of the season completed the season. Not a single team even had two foreign pitchers playing full time at the same time. Adam Plutko, who had 11 wins, 3 losses and a 2.41 ERA in 21 games, was delayed due to injury at the end of the season, and eventually left for the U.S. on the 27th after the regular season was over.

The KIA Tigers, who started the season with Sean Anderson, who played for five big league teams, and Adonis Medina, a fast-pitch pitcher from the Dominican Republic, were the only ones out of the 10 clubs to replace two foreign pitchers. In early July, he recruited Mario Sanchez from the Taiwanese league instead of Medina, and two days later, he re-signed left-hander Thomas Panoni, who also played as an alternative foreign pitcher for KIA last year. However, KIA failed to advance to the fall baseball league despite the sincerity of replacing all foreign pitchers.

NC's Peddy was by far the best foreign pitcher in the KBO League this year, with a total of 30 players, including replacement players. Peddy, who started 27 games last year and played a full-time starting pitcher in the big league, showed off his best pitching this season in the NC uniform. Peddy, who played in 30 regular league games, had 21 quality starts and had an outstanding performance of 20 wins, 6 losses, 209 strikeouts, and 2.00.

Peddy became the fifth pitcher in the history of the KBO League in 37 years to achieve 20 wins and 200 strikeouts following the high list in 1983, the late Choi Dong-won in 1984, Kim Si-jin in 1985, and Sun Dong-yeol in 1986. Of course, among foreign pitchers, Pedi was the first in history, and Pedi was the only pitcher with 20 wins and 200 strikeouts. In addition, Peddy became the most likely MVP candidate by booking the Golden Glove in the pitching category, recording the first foreign player and the seventh pitcher in history.

Six innings, 12K, no injury at all

Peddy achieved 20 wins and 200 strikeouts at the same time with six scoreless innings against the Hanwha Eagles on the 10th, but started again against KIA on the 16th. If he scored six scoreless innings in the game, Peddy could have recorded an ERA of one run in the KBO League for the first time in 13 years since Ryu Hyun-jin (Toronto Blue Jays in 2010. However, Pedi was replaced after being hit in the forearm by Ko Jong-wook's assault ball with only one out count remaining until six scoreless innings.

NC fans, including head coach Kang In-kwon, were heartbroken by Pedi's replacement of injury, but Pedi was fortunately diagnosed as a simple bruise. Even if it is not easy to take the mound in the wild card game against the Doosan Bears, many predicted that they would be able to take the mound normally if they advance to the semi-playoffs. In fact, head coach Kang In-kwon also expressed his intention to put Peddy as a starter in the third round of the semi-playoff unless there is a major change even before the second round of the semi-playoff.

However, Peddy complained of discomfort after throwing a bullpen and received a hospital checkup again, and eventually failed to take the mound until the semi-playoff. Some hasty baseball fans suspected that the injury was so serious that Peddy could not play, unlike the NC team's announcement that it was a simple bruise. There were unconfirmed rumors and speculations among baseball fans, but Peddy made his first debut in fall baseball through the first playoff game against kt on the 30th as scheduled.

And in his first fall baseball appearance in Korea, Peddy proved why he was called the best pitcher of the year. Except for a solo home run by Moon Sang-chul in the bottom of the third inning, Peddy overwhelmed the kt hitter all the time, giving NC a 78.1% chance of advancing to the Korean Series with three hits, one walk, 12 strikeouts and one run in six innings. His 12 strikeouts were the most in a playoff game, surpassing Sun Dong-yeol in 1989 and Chris Flexen in 2020 (Colorado Rockies, 11 above).

NC not only preempted the 78.1% chance of advancing to the Korean Series with the victory in Game 1, but also confirmed the health of ace Peddy, who was unsure of his physical condition. There is nothing that makes coaches and fans as reliable as there is a clear winning card that can be trusted and entrusted to one game in the postseason.