“Again, 8th inning, one out”: Park Young-hyun’s two-day streak of five-out pitching feat → Lee Kang-cheol’s bold gamble: “I felt it would be a shame to lose without using him”

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

KT Wiz closer Park Young-hyun (23) continued his extraordinary feat of “five-out pitching” for two consecutive days in the Korean Series.

Park appeared as the team’s third pitcher in Game 2 of the 2026 Korean Series against the Samsung Lions, held at Suwon KT Wiz Park on the 4th, and pitched 1⅔ scoreless innings.

On that day, after starter Go Yeong-pyo retired with one run allowed over seven innings, KT brought Son Dong-hyun to the pitcher's mound in the top of the 8th inning with the game tied at 1-1. After getting first batter Kim Ji-chan on an infield grounder to second base, Son allowed a walk to Kim Seong-yoon and then threw a ball on the first pitch to the next batter, Gu Ja-wook.

Promptly, the KT bench pulled out the Park Young-hyun card. The closer’s appearance in the 8th inning with one out for two consecutive days was Manager Lee Kang-cheol of KT’s bold gamble.

In Game 1 as well, Park entered in the top of the 8th inning with one out and bases loaded while leading 8-6, throwing 22 pitches over 1⅔ innings to record a save with no hits allowed and three strikeouts. Although he allowed an inherited runner to score on a wild pitch, he struck out all three batters in the top of the 9th inning to preserve the team’s 8-7 victory.

In Game 2 that day, Park gave up a line drive single to first batter Gu Ja-wook, finding himself in a jam with one out and runners on first and second base. However, he retired Park Seung-gyu with a right field flyout and Diaz with an infield grounder to first base, ending the inning without allowing any runs.

In the top of the 9th inning as well, Park faced a crisis after allowing a line drive single to leadoff batter Ryu Ji-hyuk. Lee Jae-hyun’s sacrifice bunt resulted in one out and runners on second base. Park struck out Jeon Byung-woo to record two outs, but threw a one-bounce ball on the first pitch to pinch hitter Kim Hyeon-jun. Manager Lee Kang-cheol then climbed directly onto the pitcher's mound to encourage Park.

Ultimately, Park retired Kim Hyeon-jun with a center field flyout and roared. Two consecutive days of 1⅔ scoreless innings. He threw 23 pitches that day. Although the team lost 2-3 in the bottom of the 12th inning of extra innings, Park’s soundness remained a significant gain for KT.

After the game, Manager Lee Kang-cheol said regarding the pitching change in the top of the 8th inning, “I felt it would be a shame to lose without using Park Young-hyun. Even if the game ended with Young-hyun getting hit, I didn’t think I would regret it, so I took the gamble.” When asked about the team’s bullpen for this series, he expressed strong confidence with the brief remark, “As for Young-hyun, I always trusted him anyway.”

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original