Ace's Bet: Home Before June Ends
-Ace: Wanna bet when that guy's goin' home? I say he’s outta here before June wraps up.
- Ball count 0-2! With the count in his favor, Seo Tae-woong fires high in the zone! The ball rockets straight up off the bat. Catcher Yi Hae-chan quickly sheds his mask and snags the towering pop-up! One out!
- The Paregis hitter just can't handle Seo Tae-woong's stuff. Even with no balls and two strikes, swinging at that fastball wasn't smart. Way too eager.
- Now it's time to face the 8th-hole hitter, Kim Jae-hong. Last season, he hit .343 against lefties. And he's shown real strength against the changeups and curves Tae-woong usually throws to right-handers.
- If you isolate the pitches, honestly, aside from the curve, Tae-woong's other stuff—four-seam fastball, slider, changeup—doesn't stand out as overpowering.
- But the results say otherwise.
- Exactly. Individually, you wouldn't expect these outcomes. But when you add pinpoint control and pitch sequencing? That's the synergy.
- Right. While the Wiz keep riding Seo Tae-woong, the Bears have been burning their pen since the 5th—top relievers, no less. Manager Kim Tae-hyun still thinks the game's alive.
- Makes sense. Outside today, the Bears' lineup is stacked top to bottom with power threats who can go deep anytime. One swing flips the score, so giving up on a 3-run lead feels wasteful. Whoosh! "Striiike!"
- Right on cue, Tae-woong unleashes the first pitch. A sharp 125 km/h sinker jamming low and inside! Packed the zone tight—his fastest of the day! That four-seamer clocked 125.
- Kim Jae-hong's tilting his head; he doesn't like the call. But slow-mo shows it caught the corner. Nicked the edge.
'He was sitting on that jammed fastball inside, got backed up in the count. Next one's gotta be a breaking ball dropping off the plate outside.'
As Tae-woong pondered the next pitch, Ace whispered in his ear.
-Ace: The hitter's comin' in hunting a curve or changeup tailing off outside...
-Seo Tae-woong: Whoa, shit—you scared me! What the hell? Readin' my mind? Voyeur much?
Ace shot the startled Tae-woong a pitying look.
-Ace: Kid, grab any middle-school kid from that outfield bleacher crew—they'd say the same damn thing.
-Seo Tae-woong: So, whaddya think? I'm plannin' to flip his read.
-Ace: Won't he flip the flip and come right back?
-Seo Tae-woong: Then I'll flip the flip-flop.
-Ace: And he'll flip that too.
-Seo Tae-woong: Fine, flip-flop-flip it is...
Ace cut in with a disgusted grimace.
-Ace: Shut it already. Future stationmaster or what? Obsessed with reversals much?
Just then, Hae-chan flashed the sign.
'Fastball outside.'
'Unexpected.'
Before mounting the rubber, they'd agreed to lean on setup pitches this inning—but this was different. A setup might just waste a ball here.
Ace, watching, chimed in.
-Ace: Jae-hong's locked on that breaking ball outside anyway. If he swings, he's timed for off-speed—won't square it clean.
-Seo Tae-woong: What if he lays off?
-Ace: Even then, tail it off the plate and you steal a strike. If you hit the spot I said. Check the mitt. See?
Ace spoke like he'd decoded the catcher's whole game plan.
-Seo Tae-woong: Yeah... spot on.
-Ace: That's 1%—hell, 0.01%—of this body's masterclass. Pumped yet?
-Seo Tae-woong: Kinda. Bumped my hype by 0.01%.
-Ace: You ungrateful little shit, you traitorous bastard...
'Smart guy, knows his stuff—but simpler than I thought.'
Tae-woong ignored the cursing and fired toward the mitt.
Whoosh.
Kim Jae-hong, committed to swinging before the pitch even left Tae-woong's hand, unleashed his long bat with force. Aiming low, thinking breaker—and grazed the bottom edge.
Crack!
The foul squirted down the third-base line. Hwang Jae-geon, hovering two steps back off third, chased it into foul ground and snagged it.
As Kim Jae-hong watched that first-pitch strike inside, the next hitter, Oh Jae-i, practicing his hacks in the on-deck circle, got called over by the hitting coach.
"Jae-i, c'mere."
"Yes, Coach."
Oh Jae-i's bat had gone ice-cold lately, stuck below .100. He'd started opening day at cleanup, but his plummeting average pushed him down the order. By this three-game set with the Wiz, even as the power-first first baseman, he was batting dead last at ninth. Yesterday and today? Hitless, no walks, zero baserunners.
So he'd glued himself to the hitting coach all day, grinding to snap the slump.
"Jae-i, first pitch."
"Huh? What're you—"
"Dunno why, but the Wiz battery's tweaking their sequences every inning or two."
"Ah, got it."
Oh Jae-i nodded but looked puzzled. Normally he'd clock this, but the slump had him tunnel-visioned on his own swing.
"And Tae-woong's first one to you? Inside curve or outside slider."
"C-Coach, but I'm weak on curves..."
Even in his .300 stretches, curves and changeups owned him. Now? Zilch against curves.
"Exactly—give up inside."
"So just hunt outside?"
"Yep. But swing a full beat later than you think."
"That means givin' up fastballs, pure slider hunt?"
"Best play in your state."
"Roger that."
"Miss the first? Ditch outside and high—inside only after."
Oh Jae-i bought in quick. No pride left to bruise.
As Kim Jae-hong's foul got eaten, the coach clapped Jae-i's shoulder.
"Go get one. You got this, Jae-i!"
"On it."
The Bears hitting coach nailed it. Hae-chan called for the outside slider; Tae-woong and Ace both greenlit it. He fired.
Whoosh!
Oh Jae-i, brain locked on one pitch—outside slider—unleashed.
Crackkk!
The ball sailed over shortstop Shim Woo-joo's head into the outfield, cleared left fielder Kang Baek-ho, and hopped the wall.
- Oh nooo! That ball's gone! Oh Jae-i sends the far-corner slider deep for a solo shot! In this do-or-die spot, he goes yard solo! Reverse rally for the Bears—that's how I gotta call it!
- Slumping Oh Jae-i steps up. Tae-woong's first pitch! He crushes it! Read it perfect! Through the infield, keepin' carryin'! Over the wall! Oh Jae-i's solo bomb! Bears claw back! Score's 3-1—down to two runs!
- Huge bloodline-breaker for the Bears. Tae-woong's gotta be gutted. He'd been carving 'em up like 2006 Ryu Han-jin. 121m blast brought Tae-woong his first run... and this.
Allowed a home run to batter Oh Jae-i.
Skill effect of 'One More After Out' ends immediately.
Stamina consumption resumes normally starting with the next batter.
The message popped up: 'One More After Out' done.
"Damn, nailed it. Homer to a .100 hitter..."
-Ace: No such thing as 100% or zero in this game. Expected.
-Seo Tae-woong: Eh, took it in the 6th with two outs. Held longer than I thought.
-Ace: Surprised? Figured you'd be rattled.
-Seo Tae-woong: Heh, one bomb shakes me? Ace, you know how many I gave up pre-release?
-Ace: Bragging, asshole? Loved eatin' homers, huh?
-Seo Tae-woong: Not braggin'...
-Ace: Let's see your single-season dinger record. Achievement material—gimme a skill for it?
-Seo Tae-woong: Oh yeah? Flip it then.
-Ace: Here we go...
-Seo Tae-woong: Think: most homers allowed means least allowed exists too. Reward that?
-Ace: Ain't in achievements.
Tae-woong bristled.
-Seo Tae-woong: Not there? Shit, then what's on the list?!"
-Ace: ...Not a secret. Post-inning, I'll show achievements.
Tae-woong couldn't hide his thrill—a new goal.
-Seo Tae-woong: For real? Gotta K the next guy quick. No backsies.
-Ace: Lived a sucker's life or what?
-Seo Tae-woong: Hell yeah! Three pitches, three strikes!
-Ace: Big dreams...
Crack!
- Ball count 2-2! Tae-woong's fifth pitch drops low outside. Choi Jun-hwan connects. Roller gobbled by short—out at first!
Tae-woong yields a solo to Oh Jae-i with two outs in the 6th, spotting the Bears a run—but strands 'em by K? No, groundout. Ends the frame. Wiz offense up top of the 7th.
-Ace: Mr. Seo, three-pitch Ks? Since when's 5 and 3 the same number?
-Seo Tae-woong: Eh, it just happened. World don't bend to wishes, right? Cut me slack.
-Ace: Lame...
Tae-woong brushed off the jab. Dugout-bound, seniors, coaches, skipper clapped his back.
Passing Kang Baek-ho, he leaned in.
"Dude, that fly? Had to sky for it."
Baek-ho, flustered, whispered back.
"Yeah. Super rook like me—taller than a giraffe, right? Seven-eight meters up, easy jump. Too bad I'm a shrimp. Sorry."
"Lesson learned. Not too late—chug milk, grow big, Baek-ho."
"Talkin' to you makes me feel crazy."