It was not Austin Dean, a foreign batter who hit 3 hits, or Hyun-soo Kim, who scored 3 RBIs, who led the LG Twins to their first win in 2023.
Left-handed bullpen Ham Deok-joo (28),안전놀이터 who suffered from injuries and sluggishness for a long time, was the main character.
Ham Deok-joo took the mound in the 10th inning of overtime against KT in the professional baseball KBO league held at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, Gyeonggi-do today (2nd), 9 to 9, and perfectly blocked 2 innings with no hits, no walks, 4 strikeouts, and no runs. led to a 9-to-9 victory.
On this day, starting pitcher Kim Yun-sik had a hard time in managing the bullpen as he struck early in the bottom of the 2nd inning.
Lim Chan-gyu, who pitched in relief, also came down from the mound after being shaken in the third inning.
LG continued the game with Baek Seung-Hyun, Kim Jin-Sung, Jung Woo-Young, Park Myeong-Geun, Jin Hae-Su, and Lee Jung-Yong pouring in the bullpen.
The match went into overtime, and only Song Seung-gi, Yoo Young-chan, and Ham Deok-joo remained in the bullpen.
Song Seung-gi and Yoo Young-chan are rookie-level pitchers who have not played in 10 games in the first team.
Director Yeom Gyeong-yeop put Ham Deok-joo into the 10th inning.
Ham Deok-joo calmed the KT batting line with his seasoned pitching.
Cho Yong-ho and Kang Baek-ho both struck out on swings with sliders, and Anthony Alford threw a fastball and struck out looking.
When Ham Deok-joo easily caught the three key hitters, the LG batting line began to gain strength.
Scored with a squeeze bunt in the top of the 11th inning.
Ham Deok-joo went back to the mound in the 11th inning.
And Park Byeong-ho, Kim Joon-tae, and Hwang Jae-gyun were caught in a three-way fight to end the long game.
On this day, Ham Deok-joo’s highest fastball speed was only 145 km, but his control was excellent.
Ham Deok-joo became a winning pitcher after a long time.
It has been about two years since the NC Dinos match on April 4, 2021 that he won.
The past two years were a time of suffering for Ham Deok-joo.
Ham Deok-ju, who played a big role in the starter and bullpen during the Doosan Bears, went downhill after wearing an LG uniform as a trade in 2021.
A combination of his gout and an elbow injury prevented him from playing.
Even after he underwent surgery, his performance showed no signs of recovering.
Last season he played just 13 games and 12⅔ innings.
However, since the match against Doosan on May 5th, I have not been able to stand in a single team game.
In the meantime, Yang Seok-hwan, who was traded with Ham Deok-ju, hit 28 homers in the 2021 season and 20 homers in the 2022 season, and Ham Deok-ju was under considerable stress.
Ham Deok-ju, who finished the 2022 season, prepared for the 2023 season harder than anyone else.
He said, “I am very sorry that I have not been able to show a good performance to the fans due to my injury,” and “I focused more on training at the spring camp.”
Ham Deok-joo’s opportunity for a comeback came right away.
He got on the mound in the second game after the opening, the match.
“His heart was pounding like it was on his first pitch as a rookie,” he said.
Ham Deok-joo threw the ball as it was in his heyday, and became a winning pitcher by handling six batters perfectly.
He revealed, “In the meantime, he was evaluated as weak against left-handed hitters, so he trained hard on sliders, and he was able to face them with confidence today.”
And he promised, “I will show you a good look while staying healthy in the remaining games of this season.”