Lee Sang-kyu (Hanwha Eagles), who won in 1,553 days, vowed to show a steady presence.
Hanwha, led by head coach Kim Kyung-moon, beat manager Lee Seung-yeop’s Doosan Bears 7-6 after extra-time blood in the away game of the 2024 professional baseball KBO League regular season at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on the 24th.메이저놀이터
Hanwha, which has secured two consecutive wins and three consecutive winnings series at the same time, has posted 55 wins, two draws and 60 losses to rank seventh with no gap with sixth-ranked SSG Landers (57 wins, one draw and 62 losses). The team is two games behind fifth-ranked KT Wiz (59 wins, two draws and 60 losses), which is the Maginot line in the fall baseball league.
The performance of right-hander bullpen pitcher Lee Sang-kyu was a brilliant game. He took the mound at first base with no outs in the bottom of the ninth inning when the two teams were tied 6-6.
It was a situation where he could be nervous enough, but Lee Sang-gyu was calm. Kim Jae-ho’s sacrifice bunt sent Jung Soo-bin to second base, but he exchanged one out count. After that, Yang Eui-ji’s automatic four pitches faced the first and second bases with one out.
Here, Lee took a sigh of relief by tying Yang to the catcher’s foul fly. Kim then grounded out to the third base to end the inning without losing a run.
Hanwha made the score 7-6 with Kim Tae-yeon’s timely hit to the right in the top of the 10th inning. Lee Sang-kyu, who gained momentum, calmly increased the out count against Kang Seung-ho (three strikeouts), Jeon Min-jae (three strikeouts), and Seo Ye-il (catcher foul fly) in the bottom of the 10th inning. It was the moment when Lee Sang-kyu was named the winning pitcher for the first time in 1,553 days since the match against Jamsil KT on May 24, 2020, when he was wearing the LG Twins uniform.
Was it because of his excitement? In a broadcast interview after the game, Lee Sang-gyu shed tears. “When Sanghoon Lee asked me how I felt, I got emotional without realizing it. When I finished the 2020 season temporarily, I didn’t feel this because there were no fans (due to the COVID-19 incident), but in a way, it was the first time I felt it. I think I was touched by that,” he told reporters.
“I think I heard we were going to go another inning after the score (earlier in the 10th inning). I don’t remember exactly,” Lee said with a bright smile. “Choi Jae-hoon was so good (when I took the mound in the bottom of the 10th inning). He gave me a strong autograph and threw it accordingly. I think the result was good because I did what I told him to do, not because I liked my ball. I didn’t think much of responsibility. There were many days when I couldn’t throw my ball freely on the mound. I just thought about throwing my ball. That’s why I got such a good result.”
Asked if he had a different mindset when he took the mound in the bottom of the ninth inning, which was tied, and the lead in the bottom of the 10th inning, he said, “It was the same. Coach and coach also told me to throw with confidence. I just thought of throwing with confidence, and I went up,” and added, “It’s not that the ball is bad, but the coach said, ‘It’s not that the result is bad because I wasn’t confident, so throw with confidence.’
Lee Sang-gyu, who was called by the LG Twins as the 70th player in the second round of seven rounds in 2015, made a surprise performance in the 2020 season. When Ko Woo-suk (Miami Marlins), who had previously finished the game, was removed from the first team due to a knee injury in the middle of the season, he took over the role of closing the game. Given the opportunity, he showed short but impressive performance. In May that year, he played in 12 games, won two games, had four saves, and had a one-hold hit rate of 0.195 with an ERA of 1.46.
However, he failed to settle down. Since then, he has not displayed any significant performance since then, and posted an ERA of only two wins, three losses, four saves and one hold in 44 games (45 innings) in the Korean pro league until last year.
Lee Sang-kyu, who moved to Hanwha through the second draft held in November last year, did not show much presence until the middle of this season, but he harvested the victory and made expectations for his future performance.
“I thought I could fail because I was converted into a nurturing player (for LG). I thought a lot, ‘Am I getting cut off, too?'” Lee said. “However, after overcoming that, I felt different (from the fans) as I came to Hanwha and won in many places. (When I heard the news of the transfer), I also cried a lot back then. In a way, I was able to leave the LG protection entry and come to Hanwha. It was very sad, but after I came here, I met good people and started again. It was okay. Crisis is soon opportunity.”
In particular, the cheers of fans who filled the ballpark on this day gave him a great boost.
Lee Sang-gyu said, “I felt again that I was so passionate. I was so excited because you cheered so happily and strongly like a cheerleader who said, ‘I’m happy.'”
The trust of head coach Kim Kyung-moon and the coaching staff is also one of the backgrounds that allows Lee Sang-kyu to play an active role.
Lee Sang-kyu said, “The coach and coach put me up. I had to repay you. Thank you so much for using me with confidence,” adding, “I also blew Ryu Hyun-jin’s victory last time, and I wanted to repay him. I want to say, ‘I did it’ to the coach.’ “
Finally, Lee Sang-kyu promised to show his presence steadily, not a one-off performance.
“I don’t think of a must-win group. When I throw on the mound, I just want to throw my ball vigorously. And what I want to do all the time is continuity and consistency. I hope that today’s performance will not be the end of the day.” That was Lee Sang-kyu’s poor performance.