[Sports Seoul | Gocheok = Lee So-young] “(Raul) Alcantara delivered a flawless outing.”
The Kiwoom Heroes put together back-to-back wins over NC and rode that momentum to their first three-game winning streak of the season — a welcome boost amid a string of injuries. Manager Seol Jong-jin (53) praised Alcantara’s performance, saying, “He ate up innings and carried us to today’s win.”
Kiwoom defeated NC 3-0 in the April 22, 2026 KBO regular-season game at Seoul’s Gocheok Sky Dome behind a dominant start. After edging out a one-run victory the night before, Kiwoom took the series and secured a winning series against the Dinosaurs.
The headline was the starter: Alcantara tossed eight shutout innings, allowing seven hits, one walk and striking out five. It matched his personal high for innings in a game and marked the 14th time he’s reached that milestone — his fourth while with Kiwoom. He touched 155 km/h (about 96.3 mph) and kept NC’s hitters off balance with a mix of fastballs, sliders and forkballs, finishing with a Quality Start Plus (QS+).
After the game, Seol said, “Alcantara pitched perfectly. He ate up long innings and guided us to the win.” He also singled out Ganakubo Yuto for his late-inning work: “Yuto closed it out with excellent pitching.” Yuto threw one inning, surrendered one hit and struck out one batter to earn his second save of the season.
The offense delivered when it needed to. Kiwoom managed just two hits but drew consecutive walks in the sixth inning to tack on insurance runs. Seol praised the sequence that produced the first run: “Im Ji-yeol’s double in the fifth, Lee Hyung-jong’s advancing hit and Kim Geon-hee’s sacrifice put us ahead.” He added, “Choi Joo-hwan’s bases-loaded walk in the sixth widened the lead, and Park Joo-hong’s RBI in the seventh sealed the victory.”
Seol closed by thanking the crowd: “Thanks to the fans’ passionate support, we extended our three-game win streak. I sincerely appreciate it. We’ll prepare well for tomorrow’s game.”
Meanwhile, Kiwoom plans to start Kim Yeon-ju in Game 3 against NC on the 23rd, while NC is expected to send Koo Chang-mo to the mound. sshong@sportsseoul.com
