"There's no Koo Ja-wook - Kim Young-woong." Samsung waits for "a whopping 1631 days" to become No. 1... I'm nostalgic for "Dynasties" [the site of a war]

*This content was translated by AI.

There was a time when the dynasty achieved four consecutive victories, but now it is an old story. It took as many as 1,631 days for the Samsung Lions to regain the much-awaited No. 1 spot.

Samsung, led by head coach Park Jin-man (50), won 13-5 in an away game between the Hanwha Eagles and the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League at Hanwha Life Ball Park in Daejeon on the 15th.

Even while the main players collapsed due to injury dominoes, they won five consecutive games and recorded 10 wins, 4 losses and 1 draw, beating the LG Twins (10 wins and 5 losses) to become the lone No. 1 player.

The KBO's second-largest winning club, which won four consecutive games from 2011 to 2014 and lifted the trophy eight times in the Korean Series, has long forgotten its past reputation since 2015.

The last time Samsung ranked first alone should go back to four years and five months. Since October 27, 2021, I have been enjoying the joy of being No. 1 alone in 1631 days, to be exact.

It is a more meaningful ranking because the injured are out of line. With Kim Young-woong already out with a hamstring injury and Kim Sung-yoon missing from the side injury, Koo Ja-wook suffered a fine incontinence injury in his left chest the previous day and, to make matters worse, Lee Sung-kyu was originally listed in the lineup before the match, but was replaced by Hong Hyun-bin due to sudden symptoms of bile.

Nevertheless, the pitching staff calmly targeted Hanwha, which was shaking. On the previous day, he set the first record of 18 pitches in KBO history to take the victory, and on this day, he hit starter Wilkel Hernandez from the first inning and replaced him during the first inning. He scored seven points from the first inning, bringing about a win early.

Samsung also gave up three runs in the second inning with starter Yang Chang-seop shaking, but Jang Chan-hee, who later took the mound, blocked three ⅓ without allowing a run, laying the groundwork for victory. The batters added four more runs in the fifth inning and one point each in the seventh and ninth innings to complete the 13-5 victory.

In the absence of Kim Young-woong, Jeon Byung-woo hit hard with three hits, four RBIs, and two runs in six at-bats, while in the outfield without Koo Ja-wook, Kim Sung-yoon and Lee Sung-kyu, Park Seung-gyu played two hits, one walk, and Kim Ji-chan played three hits, one walk, and two steals in four at-bats.

Manager Park Jin-man said after the game, "As the starting pitcher went down early, Jang Chan-hee suddenly followed, and he pitched really cool." He showed the best results by pitching with confidence, confidence, and relaxation. If you continue to gain experience, you are expected to be the best starting pitcher to succeed Won Tae-in, and you have real ability."

"In the batting line, Choi Hyung-woo opened the door in the first inning, and after that, Kang Min-ho's additional RBI and Jeon Byung-woo's two RBIs served as an opportunity to bring about a win," he said.

Samsung is building a victory with the overwhelming strength of its bullpen. The bullpen ERA (ERA) is 2.74, the only bullpen with two-run ERA. In addition to closer Kim Jae-yoon, Bae Chan-seung, Lim Ki-young, Choi Ji-kwang, Lee Seung-min, right-hander Lee Seung-hyun, and Miya are performing evenly. Samsung, which reminds of the powerful bullpen in the "Dynasties," is preparing to fly even more when injured players return. That's why Samsung is even scarier this season.

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*This content was translated by AI.