Landers' Wilmer Font throws ninth consecutive quality start

SSG Landers starter Wilmer Font pitches at the top of the third inning in a game against the NC Dinos at Incheon SSG Landers Field in Incheon on Friday. [YONHAP]

SSG Landers sophomore starter Wilmer Font pitched his ninth consecutive quality start on Friday, breaking a 15-year record for the longest streak by a foreign pitcher in the KBO.

A quality start is recorded when a starting pitcher stays in the game for at least six full innings while giving up three or fewer earned runs. As a statistic, quality starts are a fairly good indicator of which starters are successfully fulfilling their two most fundamental jobs: Getting outs and preventing runs.

Font's quality run started on May 7, when he threw seven scoreless innings against the Kiwoom Heroes at Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul. Seven innings is clearly the sweet spot for the Venezuelan starter, with seven of the following eight quality starts also taking place with seven innings pitched.

Font made it two in a row on May 13 with two earned runs in seven innings against the NC Dinos, then on May 19 he came close to losing it with the maximum three earned runs against the Doosan Bears.

On May 25, Font was back with one earned run in seven innings against the Lotte Giants, before rounding off the month on May 31 with two earned runs in seven innings against the KT Wiz.

So far this month, Font has shown even more control at the plate, giving up just four runs in four games. On June 5 he tossed a scoreless seven innings against the LG Twins, before giving up one earned run in seven innings to the Hanwha Eagles on June 11.

Facing the Giants on June 17, Font pitched eight full innings, giving up two earned runs to tie the eight straight quality starts record for a foreign pitcher in the KBO set by former Bears ace Daniel Rios in 2007.

Finally, on Friday, Font pushed that record to nine games with one earned run in seven scoreless innings against the Dinos at Incheon SSG Landers Field in Incheon.

Font has picked up six wins, two losses and a no decision during the nine-game quality start run and has faced down the top batters from seven of the nine opposing teams — only the Samsung Lions and Kia Tigers are yet to take on Font in his current form.

Now in his second year with the Landers, Font has a 1.94 ERA with nine wins and four losses with 13 quality starts over 15 appearances so far this season. Nine wins is good enough to see him tie for first in that category with Casey Kelly of the LG Twins, while he ranks second in the league for ERA and third for strikeouts, at 95.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]