“Congratulations on your 20th save. I couldn’t say it myself…”
SSG coach Kim Won-hyung (51) was caught on the broadcast screen looking angry after the KIA game the day before. Seo Jin-yong (31)’s sweaty save was the reason. A day later, on the 8th, coach Kim Won-hyung explained.
On the 8th, before the 2023 KBO League regular season game against KIA at the Gwangju-Kia Champions Field, manager Kim Won-hyung laughed and said, “Another sweaty save,” and then added, “It’s not that, I was a little angry since Go Hyo-joon. I should have hit him, but he gave me a walk.”스포츠토토
“After the game, I said to battery coach Jung Sang-ho, ‘Tell (Kim) Min-sik to stop gesturing for me to drop the (forkball).’ I laughed. I said it with a smile. That’s why coach Kim Min-jae laughed,” he added.
The day before, SSG had won a 9-8 thriller. They led 8-5 in the top of the seventh inning. In the bottom of the seventh, with the bases loaded, Ko Hyo-jun came on and gave up a walk to Socrates Brito and a double to Choi Hyung-woo in right.
Kim grounded out to second, allowing a runner to score from third to make it 8-6. He then gave up another walk to Ko Jong-wook. He was replaced by Noh Kyung-eun. Noh gave up an infield single to cut the deficit to 8-7.
In the top of the ninth, Kim Sung-hyun hit an RBI single to make it 9-7. Seo Jin-yong came on to close out the ninth inning. He gave up a walk, a hit, a hit batsman and a sacrifice fly to make it 9-8. Lee Woo-sung was hit by a pitch to load the bases again.
He struck out Kim Kyu-sung and induced Shin Bum-soo to ground out to second base to end the game with the tying run on base. It was a close game, but SSG won again. Seo earned his 20th save.
“I didn’t think it would happen yesterday,” Kim Won-hyung laughed. “It’s true that Ko Hyo-joon has been playing well, but yesterday, I ordered him to fight even if he got hit. He gave me a strike. I was a little angry.”
“Actually, I don’t know when the camera catches me. I don’t care. Instead, I know it’s going to catch me when something bad happens. I say to myself, ‘Let’s keep a poker face,’ and yesterday I did that a little bit after the match. If I was in trouble, I probably would have just gone in,” he laughed.
On Seo Jinyong, he said, “He called me today and I wanted to tell him congratulations, but I had a meeting in the middle. He said, “Congratulations,” and laughed, “It’s true.
“I told the coaches, ‘I’ve seen it so many times, I’m not even nervous,'” he said. In fact, yesterday, I was thinking of nine, and I thought, ‘Maybe today is not the day,’ but Seo Jinyong overcame it again,” he explained.
“You wonder why he’s like that, but if you think about it, it’s hard to throw on the mound. He’s handling the situation well. He’s throwing hard, but in the end, he’s throwing for the team. The team plays well because he doesn’t fall apart. I think the biggest credit goes to Seo Jinyong,” he said encouragingly.
I pitched hard for two days. No pitch on the eighth. Not even in the ballpark. “Seo Jin-yong, Noh Kyung-eun, and Ko Hyo-joon, I’m not even going to look at them today. They’re resting. I sent them with me when I moved the starting pitcher for the next game. I told them to rest,” he laughed again.