Dinos ace Fedde dominates Wiz as hyped-up pitching matchup fizzles

NC Dinos starter Erick Fedde celebrates after retiring the side in the bottom of the fifth inning of Game 1 of the second round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason against the KT Wiz at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, Monday. Yonhap

Look up the word "ace" in the dictionary, and you may just find the picture of NC Dinos right-hander Erick Fedde.

Fedde turned what had been hyped up as a great pitching duel into a lopsided affair in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason game against the KT Wiz on Monday. He struck out 12 in six overpowering innings, helping the Wiz to a 9-5 victory in Game 1 of the second round at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, just south of Seoul.

Fedde allowed just one run on three hits.

His counterpart, William Cuevas, was roughed up for seven runs -- three unearned -- over three-plus ineffective innings, while also making an error and throwing a wild pitch.

On paper, this was billed as a tantalizing starting pitching matchup between two of the best in the KBO.

Fedde won the Triple Crown in the regular season thanks to 20 wins, 209 strikeouts and a 2.00 ERA. Cuevas was no slouch, going a perfect 12-0 while pitching to a 2.60 ERA. He also carried a sterling postseason reputation after helping the Wiz to the Korean Series title in 2021.

Fedde was making his first postseason start Monday, having missed a turn in the rotation in the previous round while recovering from a right forearm injury. He took a batted ball to his pitching arm during his final regular season start on Oct. 16 and was only cleared to pitch just before the start of this series.

Fedde showed no signs of rust, though. He retired the first six batters he faced, three via strikeouts and three with groundouts.

Moon Sang-chul stunned Fedde with a solo shot to lead off the bottom third, but by then, the Dinos were already up 4-1.

The Dinos staked Fedde to an 8-1 lead after the top of the fourth inning, and that was more than enough run support.

After his teammates put up a four-spot in the top fourth, Fedde responded in kind by striking out the side in the bottom fourth. It wasn't against just any three hitters, but against the meat of the Wiz lineup: No. 3 hitter Anthony Alford, cleanup Park Byung-ho and No. 5 hitter Jang Sung-woo.

Of Fedde's 12 strikeouts, nine were of the swinging variety. And seven of those nine came with curveballs, as one Wiz hitter after another flailed helplessly at breaking balls out of the zone.

Other than the three hits that Fedde allowed, only two other balls even left the infield against the American ace.

Fedde didn't throw anything straight at the Wiz hitters -- 49 curveballs, 37 two-seam fastballs, seven changeups and five cutters. His two-seamers touched 156 kilometers per hour and consistently sat about 150 kph.

During the regular season, Fedde had a 2.65 in three starts against the Wiz, his second-worst mark against an opposing team. But on this memorable day, Fedde overwhelmed the Wiz in a record-setting performance.

Cuevas was a shell of his regular season self. He labored through three-plus innings on 75 pitches while giving up six hits and two walks.

The first two Dinos hitters, Son Ah-seop and Park Min-woo, greeted Cuevas with a single and a double, and the Venezuelan right-hander never got into a groove.

Jason Martin's sacrifice fly scored the Dinos' first run off Cuevas in the opening frame. Then Oh Young-soo led off the second inning with a solo home run before a stunned home crowd.

Things went from bad to worse for Cuevas and the Wiz in the third. Third baseman Hwang Jae-gyun couldn't catch a harmless pop fly by Park Min-woo. And the speedy runner came all the way home on a follow-up double by Park Kun-woo. Two batters later, Cuevas gave up a single to Kwon Hui-dong that made it 4-0 for the Dinos.

Cuevas came back out for the top of the fourth inning after the Wiz got a run back in the bottom third but couldn't get out of the frame, mostly due to his own doing.

He walked Kim Hyung-jun to start things off. Kim Ju-won put down a bunt right back to Cuevas, who tried to start a 6-4-3 double play. But his errant throw skipped past shortstop Kim Sang-su and rolled into center field, giving the Dinos two runners on.

Cuevas threw a wild pitch and then gave up a single to Son that made it 5-1 for the Dinos and sent the Wiz starter to the showers.

Relievers Um Sang-back and Lee Sang-dong allowed two inherited runners to score, adding insult to injury for Cuevas. (Yonhap)