Bullpen Blues and a Nail-Biter Finish
The away team Eagles' practice had wrapped up, and as the players tended to their gear, fans began trickling into Wiz Park one by one.
At 6:30 p.m., the first game of the midweek three-game series between the Eagles and Wiz kicked off.
In the first inning, Eagles starter Kim Min-wook took the mound. He wielded a heavy four-seam fastball topping out at 146 km/h, a slider with decent break, an ordinary changeup, and a curve that he sprinkled in just often enough to disrupt the batters' timing against the Wiz lineup.
Crack!
- Hwang Jae-gun attacks the first-pitch breaking ball. The ball flies out to the outfield—toward center! Lee Young-gyu races over and snags it!
- Ah, that was a well-hit ball, but the direction was unfortunate. If Lee Young-gyu had been a step slower, it would've been a wall-scraping extra-base hit.
The Eagles' sharp defense stranded the runner. Kim Min-wook allowed a single but no walks, holding the Wiz scoreless through three innings.
Whoosh! Thwack!
“Strike three!”
- Looking strikeout! Kim Min-wook caps the third with a 145 km/h fastball!
- Kim Min-wook looks sharp overall today—great stuff and command. Velocity's up a bit from usual, pitch count's low, and catcher Choi Ji-hoon's pitch-calling is spot-on.
- The Eagles boast the league's best bullpen, and with Seo Tae-woong joining the rotation, the starters are stepping up even more.
- Now the lineup, sitting near the bottom of the league, needs to heat up. Pitchers can keep you from losing, but they can't make you win. To beat teams like this, the bats have to produce more runs.
'Min-wook hyung's stuff is on point today. Velocity's popping too. Damn, I'm jealous.'
Tae-woong watched the dominant Kim Min-wook from the dugout with envious eyes.
Truth be told, Kim Min-wook wasn't known for pinpoint control—average at best, maybe a notch below. Yet he was dealing.
'It's all because that fastball carries him.'
Not quite 150 km/h, but at this speed, he qualified as a righty fireballer in KBO first-team terms.
'And that quick, heavy fastball covers for his iffy command and flat breaking stuff.'
Watching Kim Min-wook, Tae-woong finally understood why Ace always preached that the four-seam fastball was the foundation of every pitch. Batters mistook the slider and changeup for fastballs, their swings whiffing overhead. The 30-40 km/h slower curve fooled them into half-hearted hacks or frozen stares—all because that 145 km/h heater was burned into their minds.
'Jealous as hell, but I can't throw heat like that right now. Time to carve my own path.'
Tae-woong accepted reality and moved on just as quick.
Kim Min-wook kept the good vibes going into the bottom of the fourth, racking up two outs. In 3.2 innings against 11 batters, he'd thrown just 37 pitches—including nearly seven strikeouts. At this rate, he could greedily eye the seventh or even eighth.
But with the count 1-2 to the last batter of the fourth, disaster struck out of nowhere.
As Kim Min-wook wound up, he suddenly clutched his back, sweat pouring down his face.
The catcher, training coach, and pitching coach bolted to the mound. Even manager Han Young-deok, peering through his pitch-black sunglasses, rubbed his chin anxiously.
Pitching coach Song Jun-woo shook his head at the manager after chatting with Kim Min-wook—no more innings.
Han nodded and phoned the bullpen.
Kim Min-wook leaned on the training and pitching coaches as he slowly trudged off, teammates helping him past the dugout to a waiting ambulance.
“Coach, let me help.”
“Thanks, kid.”
At 191 cm and 105 kg, he was a load even for the coaches. Tae-woong wanted to jump in but stayed put—his own start tomorrow meant ultimate caution. No one faulted him; everyone knew.
The sudden back injury stalled play briefly, but Lee Tae-young climbed the mound, and action resumed quicker than expected.
Crack!
- Kang Baek-ho yanks an inside fastball! The ball soars right—right field! To the wall! Gone!
Kang Baek-ho's solo homer shatters the 0-0 tie. Wiz leads 1-0!
- That's already his 13th. 20 is a lock, 30 feasible, maybe even 40. No wonder he's the super rookie.
In the bottom of the seventh, righty fireballer Park Sang-woon relieved Lee Tae-young and promptly gave up a solo shot to Kang Baek-ho. Wiz led 1-0 against the Eagles.
Whoosh!
- Whiff strikeout! That's his eleventh K. Fairband's knuckleball is dancing.
Fairband shuts out the Eagles through seven!
- Fairband's breaking stuff is filthy today. 103 pitches through seven, 41 knuckleballs. Mixes sliders to lefties and changeups to righties—the Eagles can't square up.
- He's the KBO's only knuckleballer.
- Yep, and a lefty to boot. But even he looked perfect through five; now the pitch count's climbing, and he's fading. Fastballs sailing high, breaking balls missing spots. Time for the Eagles to pounce.
By the eighth, the Eagles had burned three relievers, while Wiz ace Fairband—their first starter from the first inning—still held the hill. True to his ERA title last season, he was dealing zeros. But past 100 pitches, he tired, and the Wiz pen warmed as the eighth ended.
The Eagles' heart of the order didn't waste the shot.
Crack!
One out, 1-1 count. Cleanup hitter Hoi pulled a flat inside curve through right-center for a single, legging it to second on his wheels.
Wiz checked Fairband and yanked him early for closer Lee Hwa-hwa.
Crack!
- Kim Tae-gun pulls it! To left field—deep! Deep! Gone!
Kim Tae-gun's go-ahead two-run homer off Lee Hwa-hwa's first pitch flips it to 2-1 Eagles!
Bottom ninth, Wiz subbed pinch-hitters at eight and nine but couldn't touch league-best closer Jung Ah-ram.
Jung Ah-ram needed just his 142-145 km/h four-seam and early-130s changeup for two quick Ks.
Wiz's last gasp: leadoff man Kang Baek-ho, their lone RBI via solo homer.
League's top closer (sub-1.00 ERA) vs. super rookie scorching lefties at .382 over his last 10 games. Dugouts and fans watched the duel with bated breath.
But it ended fast.
Whoosh!
Lefty Jung Ah-ram fired a knee-high 144 km/h four-seam, low and away...
Crack!
Anticipating it, Kang Baek-ho swung at the first pitch. The ball rocketed toward right.
The Eagles had shifted for his power—one homer already—with outfielders deeper than usual.
Deep right fielder Hoi heard the crack, glanced up, and bolted back, tracking it.
The towering fly dove toward the wall but lost steam, settling into Hoi's glove at the track.
“Hah...”
“No way it didn't carry?”
Wiz fans groaned...
“Woooah!”
“We won? Hoi got it?!”
Eagles fans erupted, denying a tying run.
And that was that. Eagles take game one.
From Lee Tae-young after Kim Min-wook through closer Jung Ah-ram, six relievers toed the rubber—basically the whole pen, usually seven or eight deep.
'Bad luck? Lately, our bullpen's getting taxed...'
As Tae-woong thought, the Eagles' starters had struggled or gotten hurt lately, forcing more pen innings. Only ace Simpson and Tae-woong himself reliably went six-plus.
As the traded fifth starter, Tae-woong felt the pressure hardest. When third guy Kim Jae-yong or fourth Kim Min-wook got hooked early, the pen ballooned—meaning if he imploded soon, it was game over.
'Like today.'
Word came from the hospital: Kim Min-wook's back muscles had cramped badly—rest needed.
'Skip his rotation? Who's coming up?'
Tae-woong figured some second-teamer would get a shot like he had.
'One guy for a start or two.'
No time to dwell—the hole wouldn't last. His own start loomed.
Tae-woong pored over scouting reports on his now-rival Wiz hitters.
Thud.
As he loaded mental notes on the lineup, something clicked. He spoke to Ace.
“Oh yeah, almost forgot.”
What? I didn't skimp on any rewards. You ain't doubting me, are ya?
“Nah, not that. Those reinforcement tickets we've got—how many we sitting on?”
Tae-woong checked his accumulated reinforcement tickets on the spot.