‘This is the quality of an ace’ Hanwha’s Kim Min-woo encouraged rookie Moon Hyun-bin after he missed his batting position and created a crisis situation.
Hanwha suffered a 2-1 loss in the third game of a midweek three-game series against Doosan at Jamsil Baseball Stadium on Aug. 8.
The team’s bats were silent. Hanwha batters were held to 10 strikeouts in eight innings by Alcantara and could only muster one run in the top of the ninth inning when Noh Si-hwan singled with the bases loaded, trailing 2-0.
Starting pitcher Kim Min-woo took the loss, allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits and four walks with three strikeouts. Kim threw 92 pitches in five innings.
After a scoreless first inning, Kim gave up the first run of the game in the second.
After leadoff hitter Yang Seok-hwan’s hard hit ball was caught by third baseman Noh Si-hwan, the throw bounced in front of first baseman Kim In-hwan and slid backward, allowing the next batter, Kim Jae-hwan, to score on a single to right by Hong Seong-ho.
In the third, Jung Soo-bin led off with a double and scored on a sacrifice fly by Yang Ji after Kim Dae-hyun walked the next batter. In the fourth and fifth innings, he held the Doosan bats to one hit and did not allow any more runs.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, when the team was down 2-0, there was a disappointing defense by center fielder Moon Hyun-bin.
Hong Seong-ho hit a ball toward center field, and Moon failed to locate the ball, which could have been caught.
In the outfield of Jamsil Stadium, 안전놀이터 there are many balls that are hidden by the light. For Moon, who is not a professional outfielder, this would have been a difficult adjustment.
The back-to-back errors by the defense were understandably frustrating, but Kim Min-woo did his part. With runners on first and second, Kim struck out Kim Jae-ho and Lee Yoo-chan to end the fourth inning with no runs.
The ace smiled at the rookie, who was obviously disappointed by the mistake.
After ending the crisis with his own hands, Kim pointed his finger to the sky as Moon Hyun-bin rushed to the dugout and patted him on the back with a big smile.