A valuable point well defended.
The Samsung Lions earned a thrilling 1-0 victory over the Hanwha Eagles in the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League at Hanwha Eagles Park in Daejeon on Tuesday.
The starting lineup was Kim Ji-chan (designated hitter), Lee Jae-hyun (shortstop), Koo Ja-uk (left fielder), David McKinnon (first baseman), Kim Young-woong (third baseman), Kang Min-ho (catcher), Kim Heon-gon (right fielder), Ryu Ji-hyeok (second baseman), and Lee Sung-kyu (center fielder). The starting pitcher was Won Tae-in.
Won Tae-in pitched six innings of two-hit ball with two walks and seven strikeouts. It was his first no-hitter of the year. Won improved to 3-1 with his second quality start of the season (6+ innings, 3 earned runs or less – QS).
He totaled 102 pitches (68 for strikes). He threw a mix of fastballs (39), changeups (27), cutters (16), sliders (15), and curves (5). His fastball topped out at 148 km/h.
Lim Chang-min pitched ⅔ scoreless innings, Kim Jae-yoon pitched 1⅓ scoreless innings, and Oh Seung-hwan pitched one scoreless inning to earn the save. Lim picked up his fifth save of the season, Kim his fourth, and Oh his sixth.
At the plate, McKinnon went 3-for-3 with three RBIs. Kim Young-woong finished 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI.
After the game, Samsung coach Park Jin-man said, “Won Tae-in pitched a perfect game like an ace. I also want to praise the bullpen for keeping the game scoreless in crunch time,” Park said.
Park added, “McKinnon is doing a great job centering the offense and defense. We won because the players wanted to win. I’m grateful to the players for playing hard in bad weather,” Park said.
“I also want to thank our fans for traveling to the game and supporting us over the weekend.”
Won Tae-in struggled in the bottom of the first inning. After giving up a single to Choi In-ho to right-center, he struck out Jonathan Peraza on a wild pitch and 안전놀이터 walked Ahn Chi-hong. He then gave up back-to-back walks to Noh Si-hwan and Kim Tae-yeon. With two outs, Choi Jae-hoon struck out swinging.
In the bottom of the inning, Won Tae-in got Hwang Young-mook to fly out to first base and Moon Hyun-bin and Jang Jin-hyeok to fly out to left field for a triple play. In the bottom of the third, Choi In-ho singled, Peraza flied out to right, and Ahn Chi-hong grounded out to shortstop.
In the bottom of the fourth, Noh Si-hwan singled to right field, Kim Tae-yeon grounded out to shortstop, and Choi Jae-hoon flied out to right field. In the bottom of the fifth, Hwang Young-mook grounded out to first base and Moon Hyun-bin singled to load the bases. After Jang Jin-hyuk struck out looking, Moon was caught stealing to load the bases with no outs.
Won retired Choi In-ho in order in the bottom of the sixth, striking out Peraza on a fly ball to right field and Ahn Chi-hong on three pitches.
The bats got one run in the top of the fourth. Lee Jae-hyun grounded out to third base and Koo Ja-uk grounded out to second base to load the bases. McKinnon followed with a double to right to put runners on the corners. Kim Young-woong followed with an RBI single to right center. The score was 1-0, and that was the final.