“When the coach came up, he said he had no intention of changing.”
The Samsung Lions, led by coach Park Jin-man, won 3-2 in the second match of the season against kt Wiz in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League held at Suwon kt Wiz Park on the 29th, and sprinted to a four-game winning streak.
The main contributor to the victory on this day is, of course, Won Tae-in, who started as a starter. Won Tae-in won 2 wins of the season with 10 hits, 4 strikeouts and 2 runs in 7 innings.
The highlight was episode 7. Won Tae-in faced a crisis with the base loaded in the 7th inning, giving up a walk and two unlucky infield hits.
Kang Baek-ho was the hitter with the bases loaded with two outs. The hitter gave the pain of a home run in the 4th inning. But this time, Won Tae-in won. Won Tae-in turned Kang Baek-ho into a grounder on first base and blocked the inning without conceding a run. Won Tae-in roared, and Samsung away fans chanted Won Tae-in’s name.
Won Tae-in, who we met after the game, said, “I wanted to finish it cleanly, but there was an unfortunate walk and two ambiguous infield hits. And Baekho hyung came out at bat. He thought, ‘It makes for an interesting sight to unfold’. Even though I had a lot of pitches, the manager and coaches believed in me. I also wanted to give faith,” he said.
In the 7th inning with 2 outs and 1st base, pitching coach Jung Hyeon-wook came up and talked with Kang Min-ho and Won Tae-in. What kind of stories did you have?
He said, “When the coach came up, he said, ‘I don’t intend to change. Regardless of whether you score or not, you finish the inning.” Thanks to that, he gained confidence and was able to finish the inning,” he smiled.
“I want to lead long innings in every game, not just today. I wanted to make a twist. It’s good to be a winning pitcher in tight situations.”
After Won Tae-in got over the bases loaded crisis, Samsung was able to laugh with Lee Seong-gyu’s final hit in the 8th inning. If it wasn’t for Lee Seong-gyu’s final hit, Won Tae-in’s second win of the season would not have been possible. ㅋㅋㅋ벳
Won Tae-in said, “When Seong-gyu hyung got a hit, of course I felt good. Since he went down, he wished he had picked up a point. Seong-gyu hyung also had a hard time, and with this hit, I hope that Seong-gyu hyung will have a twist as well,” he smiled.
Samsung once fell into a 6-game losing streak at the beginning of the season, but not anymore. With 4 consecutive victories, they are already participating in the mid-level battle.
Won Tae-in said, “Of course, the team atmosphere is not good when we lose in a row. But now the atmosphere is good. The team is on a winning streak, so even when I started, I wanted to continue the winning streak and atmosphere. It seems like we are becoming a strong team by winning fun, tight matches.”