Won Tae-in succeeded in pitching his first complete game win in six years since his debut.
On August 2nd, at Daegu Samsung Lions Park, the 2024 KBO match between the Samsung Lions and SSG Landers ended with a dramatic walk-off victory in the bottom of the ninth. It was a day when Won Tae-in’s outstanding pitching shone.
SSG took the lead. In the top of the first, with two runners on base after Choi Jeong’s hit by pitch and Heredia’s single, SSG Landers’ cleanup hitter Han Yu-seom hit a three-run home run off Won Tae-in’s five-pitch slider. Samsung’s first run came in the bottom of the sixth. The batting order rotated, and Kim Ji-chan singled, then Kang Min-ho doubled to score the team’s first run.
In the bottom of the eighth, Kim Heon-gon, the second batter, was replaced by pinch hitter Yoon Jeong-min, and he hit a home run off SSG’s new pitcher, Noh Kyung-eun, closing the gap to one run, but a comeback proved impossible. However, Samsung’s starting pitcher Won Tae-in returned to the mound in the top of the ninth. Despite SSG’s table-setter reaching base with consecutive singles, Won Tae-in remained steadfast. He roared with a strikeout of Choi Jeong, a groundout of Heredia, and another strikeout of Han Yu-seom.
It was an act meant to inject some life into the dugout even when the team was losing. And the Samsung hitters responded.
In the bottom of the ninth, Kim Hyun-jun struck out SSG’s Cho Byung-hyun, who had come up to save the game, after a tenacious nine-pitch battle. Perhaps shaken, Lee Seong-gyu, the seventh batter, hit a fastball after Cho’s four-pitch forkball streak, sending it over the right fielder for a game-tying home run.
In the aftermath, SSG allowed Samsung’s Kim Young-woong to get on base on an error and replaced the mound with bullpen resource Lee Ro-woon, but after intentionally walking Kim Ji-chan and walking Yoon Jeong-bin with a straight ball, he threw an absurd one-pitch wild pitch against Samsung’s 3rd batter Lee Jae-hyun with the bases loaded, and the game ended in a comeback victory for Samsung.
Won Tae-in gave up three runs in the first inning, but pitched perfectly the rest of the innings, ultimately lifting the team’s morale and earning himself his 10th win.
