The ‘transfer student duo' who joined the team during this season led the Samsung Lions to a come-from-behind victory. Pitcher Kim Tae-hoon and infielder Ryu Ji-hyuk are the main characters.Samsung broke its two-game losing streak by winning 6-4 in the 10th game of the season against the Doosan Bears in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League held at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on the 9th. The season record was 40 wins, 1 draw and 56 losses (0.417).
The two teams exchanged one home run each from the bottom of the 4th to the top of the 6th inning. Four homers were hit by Jose Rojas in the bottom of the 4th inning, Jose Pirala in the top of the 5th inning, Kim Jae-Hwan in the bottom of the 5th inning, and Ja-Wook Koo in the top of the 6th inning. In addition, 토토 Doosan regained the lead with Yang Seok-hwan's one RBI and timely hit at the end of the 6th inning, and Samsung regained the balance with Kim Seong-yoon's one RBI and timely hit at the beginning of the 8th inning.
Samsung faced another crisis at the end of the 8th inning. The third pitcher, Lee Jae-ik, was hit by lead hitter Jeong Su-bin, and then Kim Jae-ho's sacrifice bunt and Rojas' second baseman grounded to 2nd and 3rd base. Here, the Samsung bench takes the timing of the pitcher replacement by filtering out Yang Seok-hwan with an automatic and intentional 4 pitches, and the player called from the bullpen was Kim Tae-hoon.
Kim In-tae, who entered the at-bat from 2nd, 1st and 3rd base, was comparatively stronger against left-handed pitchers than right-handed pitchers, and the Samsung bench also had faith in veteran Kim Tae-hoon. Kim Tae-hun threw the ball 2 pitches following the first pitch, but after the 3 pitch strike, he took advantage of the ball count by swinging 4 pitches and missing, putting a two-seam into the strike zone and striking out Kim In-tae.
In the beginning of the ninth inning, another transfer student, Ryu Ji-hyeok, set the stage for scoring. He came out as the lead batter and stole second base after getting a walk against Hong Kun-hee, and advanced to third base when the follow-up hitter, Pirella, hit the infield. In the 1st 2nd and 3rd bases, Kang Han-ul's second baseman grounded without hesitation and made a turnaround by digging into the home, and second baseman Lee Yu-chan's throw fell behind the catcher, and even second base runner Pirella scored.
Since then, Samsung has taken a step closer to victory, solidifying its winning spirit with Kim Hyun-jun's one RBI and timely hit. Kim Tae-Hoon and Ryu Ji-Hyuk's performance did not stand out much, with 1 strikeout, 3 at-bats, 1 walk, 1 run, and 1 steal in ⅓ innings, respectively, but they were a great help to the team in that they showed concentration at the decisive moment. In particular, manager Park Jin-man, who mentioned Ryu Ji-hyuk's performance after the game, praised Ryu Ji-hyuk in the beginning of the ninth, saying, “I think Ryu Ji-hyuk's success in stealing the bases decided the game. I want to praise both his sense of reading the game and his boldness.”
Kim Tae-hoon, who threw 5 balls and got a relief victory, said, “It was an important situation, so I went up with the thought of blocking it unconditionally. Catcher (Kang) Min-ho told me to stick with him confidently, so I threw it as lead. I thought it was a game at 2-2 on the ball count. I threw as hard as I could,” he said. “I want to help the team leap forward by playing in as many games as possible without getting sick for the rest of the season.”
