Unpredictable Fall Baseball Is Fun
It was a luxury pitching match between the starting pitchers of both teams. In particular, SSG starter Elias gave up only two hits against NC's lineup until the seventh inning to block it.
The NC bench boldly replaced Shin Min-hyuk, who threw well after two outs in the fifth inning. Elias continued to pitch until the eighth inning. Seo Ho-chul, who had six RBIs, including a grand slam in the top of the eighth inning with no outs and a wild card game, got on base with an infield hit. The next batter is also Kim Hyung-joon, who fired multiple shots in the wild card game. NC manager Kang In-kwon ordered a sacrifice bunt to Kim Hyung-joon, who struck out without a hit and retired with an infield grounder. However, Kim Hyung-joon's bunt hit headed in front of the pitcher, and Elias threw the ball to second base without any hesitation to put out the leading runner.
a one-off chance in the eighth inning. NC Kim Hyung-joon's bunt with no outs and runners on first base headed for the pitcher
Elias, who caught a bunt, chose second base without hesitation
The moment Seo Hochul, who was running to second base, was out Operation Burnt, which tried to shake Elias, who had rarely seen loopholes, failed. Only one out count has increased. Elias' pitching power, which had only 80 pitches so far, showed no signs of falling at all. Director Kang In-kwon took out a pinch-hitter card. Kim Sung-wook hit six home runs in 93 games this season after being discharged from the military. His batting average was only .223, but he had long-range power to turn the game around.
The director's faith worked. Kim Sung-wook turned the bat without hesitation when Elias' first changeup (139 kilometers) was driven to the center. The right ball went over the left-center fence. NC's first postseason pinch-hit home run hit.
Kim Sung-wook, who confirmed it was a home run, is cheering with his right arm raised. Leading player Kim Hyung-joon headed home and swept his chest. It was a moment when the self-confidence that he poured cold water due to the failure of the sacrifice bunt was washed away with Kim Sung-wook's two-run shot.
Kim Hyung-joon, who blamed himself for the bunt failure, is heading home and sweeping his chest.
“Thank you, sir~' Kim Sung-wook's two-run shot caused a stir in the NC dugout. The players who ran out of the dugout could not hide their joy. In particular, Park Min-woo greeted Kim Sung-wook by covering his mouth as if he was 'really surprised'. They were born in 1993 and are the same age as NC in 2012.
As Park Min-woo's “mouthed” represents, everyone in the stadium was surprised by Kim Sung-wook's pinch-hitter two-run shot. The only person who is not surprised is director Kang In-kwon. Regarding Kim Sung-wook's substitute input, Kang said, “I was expecting a lot from Oh Young-soo today, but the opposing pitcher's response did not look very good. If he didn't score in that situation, it seemed difficult to win. Kim Sung-wook's batting condition was not bad during training, so I boldly chose him as a pinch hitter,” he said. 토토