SSG hasn’t had much luck against Hanwha this season, losing four of their last five games, and it was no different in the fifth game of the season against Hanwha at the Hanwha Life Eagles Park on April 1. The starting matchup was a bit of a pressure point, and that’s exactly how the game played out.
While Park Jong-hoon gave up five runs in the first three innings to make it a difficult game, the offense struggled against Peña, managing just one hit until the fifth inning. By the fourth inning, the score was 1-6. With the bats struggling to get going, and Park Jong-hoon only lasting three innings, the bullpen was a math problem, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t bring in a closer.
After relieving Park Jong-hoon in the fourth inning, Choi Min-joon went down after one inning, and SSG had to think about their next pitcher. The game wasn’t completely out of hand yet, so someone had to go as many innings as possible without giving up a run. SSG chose sidearm Minho Park (32). He hasn’t been in the opening lineup this year, but he’s come up recently and done his job when they’ve been behind.
He had to keep Han’s hot bat in check as he didn’t know when the batting lineup would support him. At the end of the fifth inning, SSG had only a 5.3% chance of winning. But Park Min-ho pitched as hard as he could to reduce Han’s chances of winning. He didn’t want his job to be done after one inning, so he stayed aggressive and worked the Hanwha batters.
His fastball didn’t reach the top of the zone, but the combination of his breaking ball and changeup worked well against the Hanwha hitters. In the fifth inning, he was aggressive, retiring all of the batters in order in less than four pitches. He struck out Lim Jong-chan and Choi In-ho on a swinging strikeout, and then got Hwang Young-mook to fly out to third base to end the inning. It was the moment when Hanhwa’s offense stopped flowing.
Park Min-ho, who also took the mound in the sixth inning, started the inning with a walk to Peraza, but got his toughest hitter, Noh Si-hwan, to fly out to right field. Park was also aggressive, throwing strikes from the first pitch and hitting Hanwha batters hard. The tempo was fast, and it was hard to overstate the feeling of being on fire. He then struck out Ahn Chi-hong on a wild pitch and Chae Eun-sung on a grounder to third base to complete his mission.
Park Min-ho pitched two scoreless innings, giving up just one hit and a walk while striking out three, lowering his season ERA to 1.50. Then the bats 메이저사이트 came to Park’s aid. SSG rallied from a 6-2 deficit with a six-run seventh inning, pounding the Hanwha bullpen. It was an unlikely pitcher’s duel.
After the comeback, SSG relieved Noh Kyung-eun in the seventh, Cho Byung-hyun in the eighth, and Moon Seung-won in the ninth to secure the win for Park. Park’s victory came 757 days after his last win on April 5, 2022, against Suwon KT.
After the game, Park Min-ho said, “Today was a game I wanted to win no matter what, but the team came from behind and I feel good that I was able to contribute to the victory. Last year, I was thinking about ending my baseball career, but my parents and wife were by my side, supporting me and helping me, so I was able to pitch a winning game today. I can’t thank them enough,” he said.
“I also thought of the juniors I played with during the past period in Ganghwado, and I want to give them a message of support that even though they are still working hard, they can play well in the first team stage,” he said. “I hope to continue to play well and contribute a lot to the team.” Park, who thought about quitting baseball last year after being frustrated by his inability to consistently make the first team, has shown that he still has a lot of utility in a season that he thought would be his last.