KT needed just one point to succeed in the "upset" for the first time in its history. And the only batter who scored was "genius hitter" Kang Baek-ho (25).
At Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on Tuesday, when KT and Doosan met, the two teams staged a "blood fight" against each other in the second round of the wild card game. At the top of the sixth inning when the score was tying 0-0, KT made an extreme forward defense to block KT's score.
It was Kang Baek-ho's bat that penetrated KT's forward defense. He is a slugger who hit 26 home runs during this year's regular season, but the situation was different on the day. Kang, holding the bat short, pushed Lee Byung-hun's fastball of 144 kilometers per hour, and the hit slipped between the third baseman and the shortstop, leading to a left-handed hit. Kang's timely hit allowed third baseman Mel Rojas Jr. to score, allowing KT to take a 1-0 lead.
Coincidentally, the game ended with KT's 1-0 victory. Pitchers ranging from starting pitcher Wes Benjamin to midfielder Ko Young-pyo and closing pitcher Park Young-hyun also showed outstanding performance, but Kang's "sword swing" that gave his team the only score remained a critical scene.
In fact, the fourth batter of his team might want to hit long balls, but Kang focused more on how to score one point. "It was good to see Kang take responsibility and focus on contact training," KT manager Lee Kang-chul said, expressing satisfaction. Kang is a batter with strong slugging capability, but he is focusing on batting that suits his situation in a "big game."
Kang Baek-ho, who said, "I chose to hold the bat short because I wanted to play the best I could in the game," said, "Actually, I aimed to get on base when I was at bat, and I paid attention to good contacts, so I got good results. I think we have to deal with the situation well," explaining the reason why he held the bat short.
"When I hit it, I was confident that I won. I believed our players would be able to block it in big games," Kang said. "I played a lot of tight games at the end of the regular season, so I felt like I was continuously playing fall baseball. I think our team has become stronger to overcome these situations."
Many expected Kang to have an all-time season this year, hitting 10 homers through April. Having 22 homers in the first half of the year, Kang was only able to add four homers in the second half. This situation could have been very stressful for a big hitter. However, with a big game approaching, Kang decided to give up his regret about home runs. "It is important to create good chances for our team along with team batting. Whatever it may be, whether it be a hit, a home run or a walk, we should encourage our players," he said.
For the first time in the KBO league, the fifth-ranked team in the regular season succeeded in "upset" in the wild card game, and Kang Baek-ho's bat was at the center of it. Now, the opponent KT will meet in the semi-playoff is LG. Actually, it is not a very welcome opponent for Kang Baek-ho. Kang Baek-ho has struggled particularly against LG this year. He appeared in 16 games against LG, hitting .189 with three home runs, 10 RBIs and two steals. LG was the only opponent Kang Baek-ho had a batting average of around 100%. In particular, he met LG for four consecutive days from August 27th to 30th, and struggled with no hits in 11 at-bats.
메이저놀이터 Will a "genius hitter" be able to break down the data? Few would have expected that KT would secure four runs in the first inning against "KT killer" Kwak Bin in the wild card game and beat Doosan for two consecutive wins. Like KT, which broke the 0% chance, there is no rule against Kang not to let him continue in the semi-playoff with his batting average of .571 in the wild card game.