"It's good baseball to win from start to finish," says KT manager Lee Kang-cheol

 

The KT Wiz of the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) enjoyed a thrilling victory against the Samsung Lions of Suwon on the 28th, something that happens only a few times a year.

With substitute starter Jo Hyun Joo for KT and Denny Reyes for Samsung, KT was unable to capitalize on Reyes' pitches and fell behind 0-4 in the sixth inning.

After Samsung activated its bullpen, KT began to chip away at the deficit, but Samsung's vaunted closer Oh Seung-hwan was able to get the final out in the bottom of the ninth inning to seal the 5-4 victory.

Outfielder Hong Hyun-bin, who entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning, came to the plate with runners on first and third in the bottom of the ninth, trailing 3-4, and hit a game-winning double off Oh Seung-hwan.

On the 29th, Lee gave Suwon Samsung Electronics' hero from the previous game, Hong Hyun-bin, a chance to start in the No. 9 spot in right field.

Hong sat with his teammates in front of the dugout and said, "We don't have to win long. You just have to win at the end," he told his teammates.

The phrase, known by baseball fans as "yaoimai" (you don't have to win long, you just have to win at the end), was uttered by commentator Glasses Hyun during South Korea's nine-run comeback victory over Japan in the 2015 Premier 12 semifinals.

"In baseball, it's best to win long (from the beginning) and win at the end," Lee said with a wry smile.

While a come-from-behind victory in the bottom of the ninth inning can only bring more joy to the fans watching the game, the managers running the game must literally feel their blood run dry.

Lee's words are ones that probably every manager can relate to.

Reviewing the previous day's game, the most crucial moment Lee pointed out was the sixth inning offense.

KT was unable to score in the sixth inning, but they managed to force Samsung starter Reyes to throw 30 pitches in one inning, which allowed them to pull their bullpen from the seventh inning.

"I thought, 'Let's just throw until the sixth inning and let Reyes go down and give it a shot for the other three innings,'" Lee said.

KT scored two runs off Samsung bullpen Seung-hyun Lee in the seventh and one run off Tae-hoon Kim in the eighth.

"It was important that Kang Baek-ho hit a home run in the eighth inning to bring us within one run. It was a strange game in a way," Lee said.  카지노사이트 추천