adminTo become no one’s son but Lotte Giants pitcher Jin Seung-hyun, he looked at the mitt and threw hard.
With his father, a legendary catcher, looking on, the son took the mound at Sajik Stadium and pitched a scoreless first inning to take a step toward becoming a closer.
Sajik Stadium in Busan, South Korea, hosted the final game of a three-game weekend series between the Lotte Giants and the KIA Tigers on Thursday. Lotte had taken the previous two games, and were in a better mood after a thrilling victory the previous day when Noh Jin-hyuk hit a game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Lotte starter Han Hyun-hee pitched a no-hitter through the fifth inning before giving way to Kim Jin-wook in the sixth after two consecutive singles by Go Jong-wook and Socrates. The LOTTE pitching staff had to prevent further runs. Kim Jin-wook and Kim Do-gyu gave up six runs in the sixth inning alone.
In the sixth inning, KIA attacked for 31 minutes, but LOTTE finished in five minutes. The tense 0-0 balance was broken in an instant, tilting the game in KIA’s favor.
Down 6-0 in the eighth inning, Lotte right-hander Jin Seung-hyun (second-year pro) took the mound and pitched hard in front of his father, Kia head coach Jin Gap-yong.
A legendary catcher in the KBO, Jin was a three-time Golden Glove winner (2002, 2005, 2006) and a gold medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Although he is now known as the son of the former coach, Jin Seung-hyun was emotional when he took the mound at Sajik Stadium for the first time this season against KIA in a Lotte uniform.
After giving up three runs on two hits and one walk in 0.1 innings against Kiwoom on March 27, Jin Seung-hyun took the mound in the sixth inning against LG Electronics on April 1 and pitched two innings. He faced six batters and struck out two with no walks and no hits.
Prior to this appearance, he was winless in three games this season with an ERA of 8.10 in 3.1 innings.
Taking the mound at home for the first time in three days, Jin Seung-hyun came out strong. Against leadoff hitter Choi Jeong-yong of KIA, he threw a 142-kilometer fastball that he flied out to center field.
He gave up an infield single to Park Chan-ho one out later, but Kim Ho-ryung struck out and Socrates’ well-pitched ball sailed past the pitcher’s face and hit Jin Seung-hyun’s glove for a hit. After getting out of a jam with a 129-kilometer slider against Choi Hyung-woo with runners on first and third, Jin Seung-hyun pitched a scoreless inning for the second straight game.토토사이트
Watching his son pitch from the third base dugout, Kia head coach Jin Gap-yong was emotionless, but when Jin took the mound in front of his father, he threw the ball as hard as he could to help Lotte win.
Many people still know him as the son of legendary catcher Jin Kab-yong, but the second-year pro is doing his best to become Lotte pitcher Jin Seung-hyun.
The young pitcher has a lot of potential, and we’re looking forward to seeing if he can surpass his father.