NC Dinos pitcher Gu Chang-mo (29) saved his team from the brink of a series sweep.
Gu Chang-mo started on the mound in the game against the Kiwoom Heroes in the 2026 Shinhan Bank SOL Bank KBO League at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on the 23rd and recorded a win after 6 innings, 4 hits, 1 walk, 1 hit batter, 3 strikeouts and 1 run.
After Gu Chang-mo cleanly retired Kiwoom's top hitters—Park Joo-hong, An Chi-hong and Trenton Brooks—on strikeouts in the bottom of the first with NC up 2-0, he struck out leadoff hitter Lim Ji-yeol in the second but gave up a hit to Choi Joo-hwan. With the inning continuing after a hit-by-pitch to Lee Hyung-jong, he induced a 5-4-3 double-play ball off Kim Dong-heon but the call at second base was ruled safe. However, he struck out Choi Jae-young to escape the 1-out, bases loaded, 2-3 base situation without allowing a run.
Gu Chang-mo retired Kim Ji-seok, Park Joo-hong and An Chi-hong all on groundouts in the third as NC pushed the lead to 6-0, recording his second 1-2-3 inning of the day. In the fourth, leadoff hitter Brooks hit a lucky double, and consecutive advancing hits by Lim Ji-yeol and Choi Joo-hwan produced a one-run rally. But Gu induced a grounder to third by Lee Hyung-jong and ended the inning without further damage.
In the fifth, Gu Chang-mo struck out leadoff hitter Kim Dong-heon on a whiff and retired Song Ji-hoo on a fly to center. He allowed a hit to Kim Ji-seok and issued a walk to Park Joo-hong but got An Chi-hong out on a catcher's foul pop.
Gu Chang-mo, who took the mound again in the sixth, allowed a hit to leadoff hitter Brooks but induced a 6-4-3 double play from Lim Ji-yeol. He retired Choi Joo-hwan on a grounder to second. With NC leading 9-1 in the seventh, he handed the mound over to Jeon Sa-min and finished his outing. With Gu's strong start, NC won a decisive 12-2 victory and snapped a two-game losing streak.
Gu Chang-mo threw 86 pitches, using his fastball (57), slider (18), forkball (10) and curveball (1). His fastball reached a top speed of 145 km/h.
In a postgame interview, Gu Chang-mo said, "From before today's game, I focused all my preparation on the single thought of ending the losing streak. With the lineup producing runs from the first inning, I was able to attack from the mound. Especially with (Kim) Hyung-jun's good tempo in calling the game, I could operate the pitching well."
Gu Chang-mo, who has a KBO League career total of 183 games (723 innings), 51 wins, 37 losses, 4 holds and a 3.61 ERA, signed a non-FA multi-year 6+1-year contract worth up to 13.2 billion won in December 2022. Gu's performance showed the money was not wasted.
However, Gu Chang-mo never reached 60 innings after the contract due to injury and entered military service with the armed forces athletic corps to complete his service. After raising expectations last season with 4 games (14 1/3 innings), 1 win and a 2.51 ERA, Gu has returned this season to the ace form everyone knew, posting 5 games (28 1/3 innings), 3 wins and a 2.54 ERA.
Gu Chang-mo said, "This result wasn't created by the pitcher alone; I think it was a victory the team made with both defense and offense," and added, "I thank the fans who cheered until the end even during the losing streak. I will repay them with a more responsible performance going forward," promising to perform through the remainder of the season.
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