The NC Dinos avenged the previous day’s loss and evened their midweek series against Samsung at 1-1.
NC won the seventh game of the season against Samsung 4-0 at Lions Park in Daegu on July 7.
A five-inning, seven-hit, one-strikeout shutout by starter Lee Yong-jun and effective relief pitching by Kim Young-kyu (two scoreless innings, nine holds), Ryu Jin-wook (⅔ scoreless innings), Lim Jung-ho (⅓ scoreless inning), and Kim Si-hoon (one scoreless inning) helped the bullpen keep the game scoreless in the rain.
Taking the mound in the ninth inning with a 4-0 lead, the 2018 first-round pick retired the next three batters, including a leadoff walk to Kim Jae-sung, to preserve the win.
NC manager Kang Myung-hyun, who had criticized Kim’s pitch mix during Lee Yong-jun’s back-to-back losses against Samsung on the 19th and Lotte on the 25th, praised the battery for being aggressive with well-thrown pitches, including his fastball and slider. 안전놀이터
“Starter Lee Yong-jun’s five innings of scoreless relief set the stage for the victory. Catcher Park Se-hyuk’s lead and chemistry were also good,” he said. “Kim Si-hoon is the closer, and he finished the game cleanly today, making us look forward to the future.”
At the plate, “Samsung Killer” Son As-seob (5-for-3) and Park Gun-woo (5-for-2, 1 RBI) led the offense from the front. Kwon Hee-dong and Kim Joo-won came through with RBI singles at key moments.
“In the batting order, our extra runs (Park Se-hyuk’s infield single with two outs in the sixth and Kim Joo-won’s RBI double with two outs in the eighth) were crucial to our victory,” said NC head coach Kang Shin-ho.