In the 2023 KBO League home game against the LG Twins held at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on the 12th, Samsung won 4-0 thanks to Pirella’s hard hit and starting pitcher Baek Jung-hyun’s scoreless 8K counterattack. With this, Samsung, which broke the atmosphere of the recent two consecutive losses, recorded 13 wins and 14 losses, preparing a stepping stone to enter the mid-table.
Baek Jeong-hyeon of the Samsung team showed off the season’s best performance of 7 innings, 3 hits, 8 strikeouts, no runs, and earned his 2nd win (3rd loss) of the season. He dropped his season average ERA to 3.19 and was a brilliant pitcher who was on the verge of entering the 2-point range.
Baek Jung-hyun showed a decent pitching average of 4.13 in 4 games before this day this season, but he won only 1 win and suffered only 3 losses. In particular, he had an ERA of 3.46, which was much lower than the average ERA regardless of defense.
Moreover, after signing a 4-year, 3.8 billion won free agent contract immediately after the 2021 season, Baek Jung-hyun experienced a shocking slump of 4-13 and an average ERA of 5.27 last year.
However, on this day, he brushed off the disappointment of his past games with perfect pitching.
On the 12th, former LG Baek Jung-hyun’s highest speed of the fastball was 141 km and the lowest was only 135 km, but he freely used the body (9 pitches)-middle (9 pitches)-outside (23 pitches).
In particular, his breaking ball control on the outer course showed overwhelming power. He aggressively mixes slider (29 pitches), changeup (20 pitches), and curveball (10 pitches) that stab at the corners of the strike zone.
In the first inning, Baek Jeong-hyeon kicked off the first inning with a tripartite retreat by outing Hong Chang-ki with a left field ball, Park Hae-min with a ground ball to first baseman, and Kim Hyeon-soo with a ground ball to first baseman 메이저놀이터.
In the second inning, Baek Jung-hyun caught Austin on a first baseman foul fly. After the video review, it was revealed that the second ball allowed against follow-up hitter Oh Ji-hwan was a foul home run, and he let go of his breath. Afterwards, Baek Jeong-hyeon, who struck out Oh Ji-hwan on a swing, put Moon Bo-gyeong out with a floating ball to left field and made two consecutive tripartite innings.
In the beginning of the third inning, Baek Jung-hyun’s pitching was the highlight of the day. Park Dong-won struck out swinging with a changeup, Kim Min-seong struck out swinging with a slider, and looking for Lee Jae-won with a fastball, striking out all three batters.
Jose Pirella’s three-run home run at the end of the third inning led to a 3-0 lead. However, he struck out Park Hae-min with a swing, Kim Hyun-soo with a looking strikeout, and Austin with a floating ball in center field, and continued pitching without a loss.
In the top of the 5th inning, he directly blocked lead hitter Oh Ji-hwan’s assault ball and connected it to first base. Although the inner thigh part of the right knee was hit by the assault ball, he sent a sign saying ‘It’s okay’ to the training coach and pitching coach Jung Hyun-wook and continued pitching. Baek Jung-hyun, who continued pitching resolutely, put out both subsequent batters with a fly ball and finished another inning with a three-way exit.
Baek Jung-hyun’s good fight continued. In the 6th inning, after putting Kim Min-seong and Lee Jae-won down with a fly ball in right field, he struck out Hong Chang-ki with a slider on an exquisite course.
The 7th episode was Baek Jung-hyun’s last crisis. Park Hae-min, the lead batter in the inning, got a hit to the left. Baek Jung-hyeon allowed the second on-base of the day. However, Baek Jung-hyun pulled out a ground ball from follow-up hitter Kim Hyun-soo and put out the preceding runner, then struck out follow-up hitter Austin. After two outs, Oh Ji-hwan hit the right side and was driven to the final crisis with 2 outs and 2nd and 3rd bases. However, the follow-up hitter, Moon Bo-kyung, was caught with a floating ball to left field and escaped from the risk of conceding.
Baek Jeong-hyeon, who accurately completed 100 pitches until the 7th inning, was replaced with relief pitcher Woo Kyu-min from the beginning of the 8th inning and finished pitching that day. Woo Kyu-min, who took the mound, blocked Kim Tae-hoon and left-hander Lee Seung-hyun in the 8th inning each with no runs and kept the lead, and Baek Jeong-hyun also earned his second win of the season.