“Pupier (Blue Blood Ace)” roared Won Tae-in (Samsung Lions).
Won Tae-in took the mound as a starter for Samsung in Game 2 of the 2025 professional baseball KBO postseason wild card game against the NC Dinos at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on the 7th.
Samsung, which ranked fourth in the regular league, kneeled down 1-4 in the first game on the previous day (6th). Victory on the day is desperately needed for the third-place SSG Landers to head to the waiting semi-playoff.
In this situation, Samsung launched right-hander Won Tae-in as a starting pitcher. Won Tae-in, who was called by Samsung for the first nomination in 2019, is the native ace of the lion corps in name and reality. He recorded 68 wins, 50 losses and two holds with a 3.77 ERA in 187 games (1,052.1 innings). This year’s record was 12 wins and 4 losses with a 3.24 ERA in 27 games (166.2 innings), and he met NC twice (13 innings) and pitched well with two wins and a 2.77 ERA.
Before the game, Samsung coach Park Jin-man said, “We have to see the situation. We also have to think that it is the last time and operate it. Depending on the situation, you can change it quickly, or you can go a little longer. If you feel shaken at the beginning, you can run it quickly. (Won) Tae-in is in good condition,” he said, wishing for good luck.
And Won Tae-in showed off his good condition from the beginning of the first inning. He struck out Kim Joo-won and Choi Won-jun in a row. Park Min-woo got a hit to the right, but Matt Davidson grounded out to second base. In the top of the second inning, he defeated Kwon Hee-dong with a ground ball to shortstop and gave up a right-handed hit to Lee Woo-sung, but he struck out Seo Ho-cheol and Kim Hui-jip and led them to a fly to center field.
The stability continued in the top of the third inning. He completed his first three-out inning of the day by taking out counts against Kim Jung-ho (three strikeouts), Kim Joo-won (left-handed fly), and Choi Won-joon (center fielder fly). In the top of the fourth inning, Park Min-woo was allowed a hit to the right, but Davison and Kwon Hee-dong were cooked with a shortstop fly and a third baseman foul fly. Lee Woo-sung, a follow-up hitter, was given an infield hit to shortstop, but Oh Young-soo, a pinch hitter, was blocked with a fly to left field.
Won Tae-in threw the ball to the top of the fifth inning as well. Kim Hui-jip (center fielder fly), Kim Jung-ho (third baseman fly), and Kim Joo-won (right fielder foul fly) were turned around.
White rice was in the top of the sixth. He handled Choi Won-joon with a fly to center field. Since then, Park Min-woo’s walk and Davison’s four pitches have led him to first and second bases with one out, but he ended his mission by striking out pinch-hitter Park Gun-woo and Lee Woo-sung, respectively, and leading them to fly to right field.
The final result was four hits, two outs and five strikeouts in six innings. The total number of pitches was 106. He used fastballs (42 pitches) the most, and he also used sliders (29 pitches), changeups (24 pitches), cutters (7 pitches), curves (4 pitches), and two-seam (2 pitches) evenly. The maximum speed of the fastball was measured up to 151 kilometers. Samsung, with Won Tae-in’s strong pitching, is 2-0 ahead of NC at the end of the sixth inning. Following Won Tae-in, Kim Tae-hoon and Lee Seung-min took the mound in turn.
[Daegu = Lee Han-joo, MK Sports Reporter]
