Samsung Lions’ “Captain” outfielder Koo Ja-wook played the role of troubleshooter with the final shot in the 11th inning, which leads to his team’s seven consecutive away wins. Samsung is now in a situation where it is aiming to overturn the top spot. It is a more meaningful team atmosphere as it is rising amid harmonious performances by veterans and newcomers.메이저사이트
Samsung won the game 1-0 at the Gocheok Kiwoom Heroes after 11 extra innings. Having won four consecutive games recently, Samsung has maintained its second place in the league with 69 wins, two draws and 54 losses.
On this day, Samsung continued its difficult trend throughout the game as it failed to get a single point in the first inning with no outs and a full base opportunity. Koo Ja-wook also failed to score at the top of the third inning. The follow-up batter Diaz hit a right-handed hit, but second baseman Koo Ja-wook was tagged out at home. The original out was maintained even after applying for a video review.
With one out in the top of the fifth inning, Samsung had another chance to score with Kim Ji-chan’s hit to the middle and steal second base. However, Yoon Jeong-bin and Koo Ja-wook failed to hit a timely hit as they ended up hitting a misfire.
Samsung’s starting pitcher Hwang Dong-jae pitched 5.2 innings of 88, allowing two hits, striking out three, and four outs. The Samsung bench activated the bullpen by raising Oh from the second out in the bottom of the sixth inning. Oh Seung-hwan pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, and Choi Ji-kwang pitched two scoreless innings.
Samsung kept silent as its batters continued to lead the game to extra time. Samsung, which missed a chance to score with two outs and a runner on second base in the top of the 10th inning, broke its long silence on scoring in the top of the 11th inning. In the top of the 11th inning, leadoff hitter Koo Ja-wook hit a change-up shot at 123km/h at the fifth pitch of his new pitcher Lee Myung-jong, who was replaced by a powerful solo homer with a flying distance of 115 meters. It was Koo’s 24th arch of this season. Samsung ended the game with three outs and a runner-up in the bottom of the 11th inning by posting closing pitcher Kim Jae-yoon.
Samsung’s Koo Ja-wook hits a solo home run in the top of the 11th inning of the “2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League” match between the Samsung Lions and the Kiwoom Heroes at Gocheok Sky Dome in Guro-gu, Seoul on the afternoon of the 29th. Gocheok, reporter Kim Han-joon
The “2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League” match between the Samsung Lions and the Kiwoom Heroes at Gocheok Sky Dome in Guro-gu, Seoul on the afternoon of the 29th, and Samsung Koo Ja-wook is delighted after hitting a solo home run in the top of the 11th inning. Gocheok, reporter Kim Han-joon
Koo Ja-wook has played in 112 games this season, hitting 0.322 with 139 hits, 24 home runs, 88 RBIs, 0.396 on-base percentage, and 0.574 slugging percentage. Koo Ja-wook, who has already broken his personal record for the most home runs in a season (22 home runs in the previous 2021 season), is aiming for his first batting average of .300, 30 home runs, and 100 RBIs season since his debut.
Koo Ja-wook told reporters after the game, “I felt sorry for (Hwang) Dong-jae because I should have scored faster. I was the leadoff hitter in the top of the 11th inning, so I thought I should survive without fail. Luckily, the hit resulted in a home run. Thanks to the batting coaches who continued to provide comfortable atmosphere and encourage confidence, I think a lot of home runs will be made this season,” and added, “Actually, I don’t put much importance on the fact that a team that wins more than has more home runs is a strong team. Rather, I want to hit more doubles than homers.”
Samsung has now become a team that knows how to win based on its solid defense, even though its batting lineup is not going well. In the game on Tuesday, center fielder Kim Ji-chan also perfectly controlled the flow of the game as he caught Song Sung-moon’s well-hit ball with a good defense in the bottom of the 11th inning.
“I thought I would be able to catch him because he is (Kim) Ji-chan,” Koo said. “This is my first season to properly play center field defense, but he is doing much better than I thought. He has good athletic sense, but he meticulously checks the defense environment at different stadiums. He certainly has talent,” Koo said. “Our team’s fielders are well-prepared for defense this season as a whole. Notably, our infielders are in this rankings now because they have often shown clean defense.”
Samsung widened its gap with the third-ranked LG Twins by four games, successfully securing the No. 2 spot. At the same time, the team narrowed its gap versus No. 1 Kia to 4.5 games. Samsung will hold two consecutive home games against Kia this weekend. It may be the last chance to overturn the No. 1 spot.
“KIA is also on the same team as other teams, so I’m not too conscious of anything. It’s our team’s atmosphere to do our best every single game,” Koo said. “Thanks to the players’ hard preparation for this season, I think such good results will follow. I don’t think our team is good enough yet. The first thing to do is to know what we lack and do our best. We are in the process of young players growing up to create a new dynasty.”