Hanwha coach Kim Gyeong-moon, who reached 900 wins with a win against Doosan on the 11th, is giving a high-five to his players after the game.
Baseball fans and reporters focused their attention on Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on the 11th, when Hanwha and Doosan faced each other. This is because it was the first match between Hanwha coach Kim Kyung-moon (66), who led the Korean baseball team to a gold medal in all nine games at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, and Doosan coach Lee Seung-yeop (48) as head coaches.
The relationship between the two is beyond special. At the time of the Beijing Olympics, Coach Kim was leading the Korean baseball team, and Coach Lee, who was active as the ‘national hitter’, was the team’s number 4 hitter.
Coach Lee’s batting pace was disturbed due to the extreme pressure at the time, and he showed poor results with 3 hits in 23 at-bats (batting average of 0.130) until the quarterfinals. Criticism poured in from inside and outside the national team, but Coach Kim chose Lee as the number 4 hitter until the end. And as if repaying the trust, Coach Lee hit a come-from-behind two-run home run in the semifinals against Japan. Coach Lee also contributed to the gold medal by hitting a two-run home run in the final against Cuba.
About three hours before the start of the game, Coach Kim and the Hanwha players arrived at Jamsil Stadium and the two met. When Coach Kim, the elder, bowed first, Coach Lee bowed even deeper and greeted Director Kim. Coach Kim, who started his career as a player and coach at Doosan, also patted the shoulder of his favorite student, Doosan catcher Yang Eui-ui (37), and offered a well-wishes.
Director Lee later met with reporters and said, “I am always grateful to Director Kim Kyung-moon. I always imagined the sight of a head-to-head confrontation as a director. He said, “I thought Director Kim could return at any time, and I had expectations, but they became reality.” However, he steeled himself and said, “Now that it is the opposing team, I will focus 100% on my team.” Coach Kim said, “I never thought I would face off against Coach Lee as the head coach. It was nice to reminisce about the old days. “The world of competition is cold, but winning at the Beijing Olympics is never forgotten,” he said. “Even when I was away from the field, I thought I should learn what young coaches are good at. Coach Lee is leading the team well even though he is only in his second year as head coach. “I hope that Hanwha can play a good game without losing out to other teams,” he said.
When the warm meeting ended and the game began, the two coaches engaged in a battle of wits without compromise. The team that won that day was Hanwha.
Hanwha defeated Doosan 6-1 thanks to starting pitcher Jaime Barilla’s excellent pitching, allowing 1 run in 6 innings, and a focused batting lineup. Hanwha achieved a meaningful victory by defeating Doosan ace Kwak Bin, who had 4 wins, no losses, and an ERA of 1.48 during the month of May.
Baria, who wore a Hanwha uniform as a replacement for Felix Peña, used a fastball of up to 153 km/h and a high-speed slider of up to 141 km/h that day to block the Doosan batting line with 3 hits, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, and 1 run in 6 innings. Bariya, who pitched well in his first appearance in the KBO League against KT on the 5th, allowing 4 hits, 2 runs, and striking out 4 in 4 innings, earned his first win in his second appearance. Hanwha took the lead with Jang Jin-hyuk’s sacrifice fly in the 3rd inning, and Noh Si-hwan, Chae Eun-seong, and Choi Jae-hoon each hit a double in the 4th inning, adding 2 runs. In the 6th inning, when the team was down 3-1, Lee Do-yoon’s timely hit, Hwang Young-mook’s walk, and Jang Jin-hyuk’s timely hit allowed them to score 3 more runs, putting a wedge in the game..
Samsung continued its five-game winning streak at home by defeating leader LG 6-4 in Daegu. Choi Won-tae, who was originally announced as LG’s starter, was unable to take the mound due to a side injury, so LG had no choice but to play with bullpen pitchers. Perhaps due to the chaotic situation, LG’s defense committed five mistakes that day and destroyed themselves. Samsung trailed 5-4 in the second half of the game, but widened the score with Kim Dong-jin’s solo home run in the bottom of the 8th inning.
NC defeated KT’s chase 8-6 in Changwon and broke away from their 11-game losing streak in Changwon’s home games that had lasted since May 11. NC turned the game around in the bottom of the second inning, trailing 1-3, with three home runs by Kim Hwi-jip, Park Min-woo, and Park Geon-woo. In the bottom of the 4th inning, when the team was down 5-4, they took advantage of errors by KT right fielder Kang Baek-ho and shortstop Kim Sang-su to score 3 more runs.
Kiwoom defeated Lotte 5-2 in an away trip to Busan, and SSG won 7-6 over KIA thanks to rookie Park Ji-hwan’s walk-off hit in the bottom of the 10th inning. 섯다