Five games in a row. With a day off in between, it was no easy task.

He overcame the pressure. KT Wiz’s Young-hyun Park pitched the bottom of the ninth inning of a 9-6 victory over the Doosan Bears at Jamsil Stadium on Sunday, giving up two runs on four hits to secure the win.

Before the game, KT manager Lee Kang-cheol said, “I think it will be difficult for Kim Jae-yoon to pitch today.” Kim had previously pitched back-to-back games against the NC Dinos on the 13th and Doosan on the 15th and 16th. If he took the mound today, he would have pitched four games in five days in three consecutive games.

However, with Kim Jae-yoon off the disabled list, the pressure on Park Young-hyun became even greater. Young-hyun had pitched against NC on the 12th and 13th, and against Doosan on the 15th and 16th, but the 33-year-old Kim Jae-yoon was 20 years younger than Young-hyun.

Lee wanted to take as much pressure off Young-hyun as possible, but it wasn’t easy.

Benjamin left the mound after five innings. In the sixth inning, Young-hyun took over without recording an out and was pulled after a single and back-to-back walks loaded the bases. Son Dong-hyun was brought in early and worked two innings.

In the eighth, Joo came on to pitch. The plan was to use him in the ninth inning as well. However, Joo gave up a home run to Rojas in the first inning, handing the job over to Park Young-hyun.

As expected, it wasn’t easy. Things were going well until the first batter, Yang Seok-hwan, singled and Kim Jae-hwan struck out. Kang Seung-ho and Kim In-tae followed with back-to-back singles to score one run, and Park Jun-young followed with a double to left-center to score another. Soon, it was 9-8.

With runners on second and third, Heo Kyung-min was at the plate. It would have been a great time for a high fly ball to end the game, but KT’s infield defense kept the game close. He struck out Heo Kyung-min on a short fly ball to center field and Cho Soo-hyung to end the game. 메이저놀이터

After the game, Park Young-hyun said, “(Kim) Jae-yoon had the day off, so I took over the closing role, and I’m glad we won. Apart from the score, I want to emphasize the meaning of the team’s victory,” he said.

“I usually pitch the eighth inning and then the ninth inning, so it’s a big task. I tried to throw with weight and stay focused,” he said. “But I felt comfortable with a three-run deficit, and I think I did a good job. I’ll do my best no matter what the situation is,” he emphasized.