On the 9th, against Doosan in Jamsil.
One of the many factors in the 6-4 Samsung victory was Kim Tae-hoon’s 8th inning save.
The game was a seesaw battle. Kim Tae-hoon took the mound with runners on first and third in the bottom of the eighth inning with the score tied at 4-4.
His opponent was left-hander Kim In-tae. Kim got off to a shaky start.
His first pitch was well outside the zone. The second pitch was low. A strikeout.
But Kim Tae-hoon was different from then on. He made a bold move.
He drove a 145-kilometer delivery deep into the body. Strike. Four pitches later, he swung and missed at a pitch that was outside off. The runner on first went to second. Runners on second and third. Two runs were in scoring position with one out.
First base was empty. It was a difficult time to go to the mound.
But Kim Tae-hoon didn’t go for it. He took the sign from catcher Kang Min-ho and drove a 145-kilometer pitch to his body. Kim In-tae, who was expected to drop a forkball, was frozen in place. All five pitches were two-seam fastballs.
It was a gutsy victory.
Kim Tae-hoon said after the game, “Min-ho told me to be confident with my pitches, so I followed his lead. I threw as hard as I could, thinking I was going to win a 2B2S pitch count.”
As expected, Kim Tae-hoon’s strengths were on full display. Thanks to his handling of the crucial situation at the end of the game, Samsung was able to score three runs in the top of the ninth inning with Yoo Soo-sik and Kim Hyun-joon’s wedge hits to win the game.
The veteran reliever seemed to hit the ground running with his new team, going 1-2 with two saves shortly after joining Samsung. He started to struggle in May. After one or two bad outings, he became discouraged. He lost some confidence. As his confidence in his pitches waned, a vicious cycle began.
This pitch was an impressive one that could be the turning point in his rebound.
The aggressiveness of Kim’s unique two-seam fastball can help him capitalize on the power of his struggling forkball.
The bullpen is back after a brief hiatus. He’ll be a welcome addition to the team’s recent surge. 파워볼사이트