‘I guess age is not a number’ Kang Min-ho, who became the best catcher in his 20th year of professional debut, is still second to his juniors in baseball. Rather, he is an indispensable key force for the team.
Manager Park Jin gave a thumbs up to Kang Min-ho’s clutch ability, the league’s best catcher, from a tie to a timely come-from-behind hit that overturned the game in the second half of the game.
Samsung returned to Daegu after winning the losing series against KIA held in Pohang last week. LG is trying to solidify its No. 1 꽁머니지급 spot with a terrifying momentum with a 7-game winning streak. On the 4th, the first match of a three-week series match between the lowest ranked Samsung and the leader LG was held at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu.
While starter Buchanan faltered in the first inning, Hong Chang-ki of LG took advantage of a wild pitch and scored first, and Shin Min-jae, third base runner, stepped home during Austin’s double play, allowing Samsung to score two points in the first inning only.
The 4th Samsung attack, which was dragged by a 2-1 1-point difference. 4th hitter Kang Min-ho kicked up a 148km fastball on the 6th pitch after a 3B 2S full count match with LG starter Lee Ji-gang and sent it over the left fence. At the moment it hit, the launch angle was too high, so I wanted to pass it, but Kang Min-ho’s goal worked. When Kang Min-ho, who hit the 13th home run in the league with a distance of 105m, entered the dugout, manager Park Jin-man and chief Lee Byeong-gyu gave thumbs up with happy faces.
The joy of a tie was short-lived, but Samsung allowed a turnaround in the next inning. In the 7th inning Lee Jae-Hyun set the game back to square one with a timely hit to tie the score.
A match between Samsung and LG, where they caught up and reversed when they got ahead, and the outcome was unpredictable. In the 8th inning, Kim Hyeon-soo fired a come-from-behind solo gun, and LG, who ranked first, was on the verge of winning 8 consecutive victories.
Samsung took the last chance in the 8th inning. After two outs, Ryu Ji-hyeok and Koo Ja-wook took second and third base with two consecutive hits. When the juniors created a chance in the second half of the game, Kang Min-ho, the 4th hitter, succeeded in turning the game around again with 2 RBIs and a timely hit.
A narrow lead of 5 to 4 by 1 point. In the 9th inning, Samsung finisher Oh Seung-hwan, who was able to tie the score or reverse with a single big shot, climbed the mound.
Up to the 8th inning, as the 4th hitter, 2 hits in 4 at-bats (1 home run), 3 RBIs, 1 run, and in defense, wearing heavy equipment in hot weather and doing his best against the top LG lineup, Kang Min-ho wore a catcher mask in the 9th inning as well. .
Catcher Kang Min-ho and closer Oh Seung-hwan struck out lead batter Moon Bo-kyung. Afterwards, Jae-Won Lee threw a fly ball to the left fielder and Dong-Won Park, a pinch hitter, scored a grounder ball to the shortstop, resulting in a thrilling victory by one point.
The moment when the 10th place team, Samsung, won by a thrilling 1 point and prevented the 8th consecutive victory of the 1st place team, LG, the oldest Kang Min-ho and Oh Seung-hwan shared the joy of victory with their juniors.
Manager Park Jin-man, who was giving high-fives to each player entering the dugout, smiled broadly when Kang Min-ho caught his eye.