Perfect up to 1 company in the 8th episode. Unfortunately, the record was broken, but Samsung Lions left-hander Baek Jeong-hyeon (36) led the team to two consecutive victories with the best pitch of the season.
On the 18th, Baek Jung-hyun started in an away game against Kiwoom Heroes in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League held at Gocheok Dome and led the team to a 6-4 victory with 3 hits, 6 strikeouts and 2 runs in 8 innings.
On the 12th against SSG Landers, Baek Jung-hyun, who threw well with 1 run in 5 innings and became a losing pitcher, reported his first win of the season (1 win, 2 losses) in 3 games, signaling a revival.
Unlike previous games, Baek Jung-hyun’s pitching on this day was flawless. His highest fastball speed was only 138km, but he seduced the bats of Kiwoom hitters with his elaborate pitch. Every ball thrown was sharply pierced all over the border line, and Kiwoom hitters could not use their hands.
Baek Jeong-hyun, who continued perfect pitching until the 8th inning with one out, ended his perfect march with a heartbreaking infield hit by Kiwoom foreign hitter Edison Russell. However, he completed his mission by the 8th inning by double killing his follow-up batter Lee Ji-young.
Although he gave up a run in the ninth inning, Baek’s pitching was close to perfect.
Samsung coach Park Jin-man praised, “Baek Jung-hyun dominated the game with the best pitching. He threw long innings with effective pitching and pitched to help the team.”
When asked if he was conscious of the perfect game, Baek Jung-hyun, whom we met after the game, said, “Since I was young, my dream has been a perfect game. In the beginning, there were mismatches and there were many situations where I could get a hit, but I thought it was luck because I kept getting hit balls by the fielders. That’s why I was conscious of (perfection) from the 3rd inning,” he revealed his feelings at the time of pitching.
It was not easy for him to continue his perfect pitching.
Baek Jeong-hyeon explained, “As time passed, it took a lot of strength. So he tried to save his strength and do aggressive pitching for a quick count fight.”
Russell’s ball hit his glove and deflected, leading to an infield hit, but Baek Jung-hyun did not feel much regret.
Rather, he said, “I already had in mind the situation where the perfect was broken. So I just thought I should catch the next hitter after the record was broken.”
I got greedy, but I have no regrets. Baek Jung-hyun said, “I thought a lot about how hard it was while throwing today. So he won’t think too much about (perfect) in the future.”
Although they missed a great record, it is positive that they succeeded in reversing the atmosphere.
In fact, Baek Jung-hyun’s start this season was not good. In his three exhibition games, his earned run average was high at 6.55, and in his first appearance in the regular season, he was sluggish, allowing five runs in two innings against the Hanwha Eagles. Following his demonstration game, his starting position was also in jeopardy as sluggishness continued in the first appearance of the regular season.
However, in his second appearance of the season, he pitched well against SSG with 5 innings and 1 run, providing an opportunity to rebound, and in his third appearance against Kiwoom, he announced that he was perfectly alive with the best pitch of the season.
Baek Jung-hyun said, “After the sluggish performance, I studied a lot about what the cause was. I also watched the game again when it was good, and also looked at how good pitchers threw. In the end, the answer was in the ninth pitch. It felt like it was gone. I trained to catch my ball, and it led to good results in the game.” 메이저사이트
Samsung currently has two holes in its starting lineup. In the midst of this, Baek Jung-hyun’s good fight was a great strength. The key is consistency. We need to continue the good fight of the last two games. Baek Jung-hyun will start on the 23rd in the KIA Tigers and Gwangju away game due to rotation.