“Baseball is all about understanding. While the best hitter was out due to injury, the replacement player hit the final hit. The Hanwha Eagles’ three-game winning streak came from Choi In-ho’s bat as a substitute at the Jonathan Peraza batter’s box. The LG Twins suffered a shocking three-game losing streak as closing pitcher Yoo Young-chan’s early input card failed in the eighth inning.
At a home game against the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League LG held at Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon on Tuesday, the Korean pro-baseball team won the game 7-5 again. Following Noh’s tying solo home run in the seventh inning, Choi In-ho’s finishing hit in the eighth inning enabled the team to win three consecutive games. Hanwha, which recovered its winning percentage to the .404 level with 19 wins, 28 losses and one draw, rose one notch from ninth to tied for eighth.
It was in the bottom of the eighth inning that the game was decided after a battle. After one out, Lee Do-yoon had a hit in the middle, and LG’s relief pitcher Kim Yoo-young balked and advanced to second base. While at bat, the pitcher changed to Park Myung-geun, but Choi Jae-hoon walked and walked out to first base. Then, after Kim Tae-yeon was out with a fly ball to the left field, LG put up right-handed closer Yoo Young-chan at left-handed batter Choi In-ho’s bat.
LG manager Yeom Kyung-yeop displayed strong will to win the game, as he deployed the closing pitcher early in the eighth inning with the game tied at 5-5. After the first ball, Yoo struck out two to three consecutive pitches, displaying an advantageous count. However, Choi In-ho was also strong. His forkball and slider were low in the fourth to fifth balls, but he did not throw a bat to make a full count.
He then fouled off the sliders on six to seven pitches in succession, and did not miss the slider that was pushed low in the middle of the eighth pitch. The properly pulled ball fell in front of the right field, and second baseman Lee Do-yoon entered the groove. Hanwha sealed its victory with Roh Si-hwan’s timely hit in the left field with two outs and runners on first and third.
In fact, Choi In-ho’s at-bat was a position for foreign hitter Peraza. However, Peraza, who felt pain in the back of his right hand after making a first pitch foul earlier in the bottom of the seventh inning, was struck out swinging. He was then replaced by Choi In-ho, a defensive player in the eighth inning. Peraza, who had icing, decided to undergo hospital treatment after monitoring the progress.
Choi In-ho came out as the troubleshooter on the spot, although the best hitter in the team was missing. It was all the more meaningful in that he targeted LG’s top closer Yoo Young-chan, even though it was only one at bat. Choi In-ho, who had been the No. 1 leadoff since the middle of last month, but was sitting on the bench due to lack of hitting sense starting last week, set the stage for a rebound with one shot. 메이저사이트
After the game, Choi In-ho said, “The opposing pitcher entered the batter’s box with confidence that he would compete with the next batter (No) Si-hwan without leading the game. He didn’t throw any fastballs, so I waited with the thought of ‘I’ll win with a breaking ball’, but I was able to get a hit because a breaking ball came in.” This season’s fastball rate is 51.3 percent, and Yoo Young-chan, who is based on fastballs, played a tenacious game of 8 consecutive breaking balls with six sliders and two forkballs, and Choi In-ho’s goal worked at the end.
“Choi In-ho was on a business trip for the first time in a long time, but he showed his concentration to score a come-from-behind hit,” Hanwha coach Choi Won-ho said. “He followed and turned the game around well, and ultimately won three consecutive games. I think today’s victory will light the mood. I will do my best to maintain a good atmosphere.” After the game, Choi also took the bat to make a special hit.
On the other hand, LG is shocked that it failed to stop losing consecutive games even though it consumed closing pitcher Yoo Young-chan. Yoo Young-chan was replaced in the game against KT in Suwon on the 18th after he came out with one out and loaded the bases with one out in the eighth inning to send all three successive runners home, and after allowing one run by giving two hits and four walks in the ninth inning. At that time, Kim Jin-sung, who took over the mound by Yoo Young-chan with no outs and the bases loaded, blocked it without losing a point and made a super save, taking a breather. However, given that Yoo Young-chan was shaken up in two consecutive games until the match against Hanwha on the day, LG suffered three consecutive losses.