“I put it down and watched it.”
SSG coach Kim Won-hyeong (51) looked back at the match against Samsung the day before. He made an unconventional choice to raise finisher Seo Jin-yong (31) from 1st and 2nd base in the 8th inning. it worked properly The result was good, but deep down I was willing to accept the loss.
Coach Won-hyung Kim said, “Yesterday, I believed in Seo Jin-yong, ahead of the last game of the weekday series against Samsung in the 2023 KBO League regular season held at Daegu Samsung Lions Park on the 27th. I actually put my heart down. Apart from what he believed, he did nothing wrong when he conceded,” he said.
The previous day, SSG won 8-7. They trailed 1-0 to 1-3, then took the lead again 7-3. After allowing the score to be tied 7-7, he scored 1 point in the top of the 7th inning and led 8-7.
In the 8th inning, Moon Seung-won gave Kim Hyeon-jun and Kim Ji-chan a hit and a walk, and they were driven to first and second base safely. The SSG bench moved here. In the end, Seo Jin-yong came up.
It was close to an unavoidable choice. Starter Kirk McCarty went down after only 2.1 innings. Next, Noh Kyung-eun ate 2.2 innings, Ko Hyo-jun 0.2 innings, and Moon Seung-won 1.1 innings. All pitchers to go out. Only ‘last bastion’ Seo Jin-yong remained.
The result was 2 hits, 1 walk and no runs in 2 innings. In the bottom of the 8th inning, after disposing of Ja-wook Koo as a fly ball, he induced Jose Pirella to play double. The inning is over.
In the bottom of the 9th inning, he got two hits and was in danger on 1st and 2nd base. There were no mistakes this time either. The catcher grounded Kim Dong-jin and caught the runner on second base from third base. Ryu Ji-hyeok treated it as a ground ball to second base.
In the ensuing 2nd run with bases loaded, Kim Seong-yoon threw a sharp ball toward the pitcher, and Seo Jin-yong caught it himself. Pitcher’s straight hit. Just like that, the game was over. Seo Jin-yong earned 27 saves for the season. A 6-out save is a success.꽁머니지급
Manager Kim Won-hyung said, “It was a one-point difference, and there were no other pitchers. In the bottom of the 8th inning, it was planned to put Seo Jin-yong at the plate with Koo Ja-wook. I believed in Seo Jin-yong. Instead, his heart was put down. He thought he couldn’t help it even if he gave him points,” he laughed.
Regarding the last straight hit, “Pitchers do a lot of practice handling assault hits at camp. But it takes reflexes to catch it like that in a real game. momentarily so Seo Jin-yong had good reflexes,” he said with a smile.
Seo Jin-yong will be waiting for Gyeonggi-do this day. He played two innings the day before, but the number of pitches itself was 25, which was not many. At the same time, Noh Kyung-eun is also waiting. It was three consecutive battles, but Noh Kyung showed his will.
Director Kim Won-hyung said, “Seo Jin-yong is on standby today as well. Hyo-Jun Ko and Seung-Won Moon are no good. Noh Kyung-eun also said it was okay. If he didn’t like the content yesterday, he would have just told me to rest. he threw well He has three consecutive fights. He puts me on standby just in case.”