Chapter 422 – Episode 414. The Cheater Hides the Cheat. (4)
A situation with 2 outs and no runners. The defense was held back. At times like this…
“Stop it!”
Lay the bat down. Just before he throws the ball out of his hand, Chae Jae-hyun looks clearly embarrassed, and the infielders run towards him. I laughed at the guys who were struggling and raised the bat.
“Ball.”
“Brother Yonggi, a lot of people have died. It was just a hookah. “Can’t you tell the difference?”
I don’t know if Chae Jae-hyun took the ball away or Yong-gi Lee took the mitt out at that moment, but it was always fun to scratch the catcher.
“… Is your mouth alive?”
The rustling sound can be heard up to here. Nice… Two balls with this. The count has become sufficiently advantageous.
‘You don’t want to give a three-ball, right? I would definitely come in here…’
It seemed like Lee Yong-gi could have asked for the ball again here, but Chae Jae-hyun does not have the control to lick the borderline precisely. Then it’s either a clear ball or a clear strike. If you are lucky enough to be in control at the borderline,
‘Why not take a strike?’
I tried to turn the bat, prepared to get a strike, but the ball came too close to my body. I quickly pull back and look back at Lee Yong-gi.
“Ball.”
“Ah, bro! It’s not a bit of an empty ball, is it? “Is it really a fight?”
“Hey! It didn’t even go towards the body. “The baby died.”
“The catcher is right. It fell out, but not to that extent.”
… Is that so? The referee takes Lee Yong-gi’s side, as if considering the possible situation.
“We will watch. Really.”
Although it was 2 outs, the next batter was Kim Su-ho, who hit a timely hit. Putting me on base here is the same as sending me to third base. This time, I will definitely come in.
‘What is it? Fastball? Slider? Maybe it’s not a curveball or a changeup? First, it’s not a curve. Yonggi hyung intuitively realized that Otani’s curve was perfect, but there was no way he would curve. Although Yonggi likes irregularities, he is not a catcher who completely ignores data.’
In the end, the conclusion is the same. Fastball or slider. Since it was a three-ball situation, there was a high possibility that he would carelessly throw it into the zone, thinking I would be watching. There could have been a strike here.
‘Considering the control of the slider, what is certain is the fastball…’
What ball should I throw? Was it this difficult to get the pitch right? There was no answer. Therefore, I decided to aim for the most classic method: fastballs. Even if I missed a swing, the count was still advantageous.
‘Ruler…, Come inside.’
Chae Jae-hyun’s windup. Still, he had three at-bats today, and perhaps because he practiced against his pitching form in his spare time in the dugout, his unusual pitching form seemed familiar. His back is completely exposed to me and his arms are flailing for a moment.
‘… Uh, devitalization?’
The moment I realized that the trajectory of the ball coming out of his hand was off-track, the bat instinctively turned.
Ta – Aak!
The trajectory of my bat hitting the sweet spot exactly with the guy’s fastball that came right in the middle. There was no need to check the destination of the batted ball.
“Ha…”
Lee Yong-gi’s sigh can be heard from behind and Chae Jae-hyeon can be seen lowering his head in front of him. After throwing the bat lightly, he opens his mouth.
“Courage, Mr. “I’m not dead yet.”
“… “Quickly get to first base.”
“Yes. Hmph.”
“Oh shit.”
*
-Ji Maeng-ho’s 37th home run of the season! But the team lost!
The Volcano Falcons narrowed their lead to 1.5 games with a win over the AT Thunders. … In the top of the 5th inning, Ji Maeng-ho hit a solo home run, putting the AT Thunders ahead 3:1, but in the bottom of the 5th inning, Hwasa’s batting line came out on fire and tied the game, and although a new pitcher, Han Sang-hyun, came on the mound, the successor runner The victory was in jeopardy as everyone was called home. On this day, Chae Jae-hyun pitched well, allowing 3 runs in 7 innings…
… Meanwhile, Ji Maeng-ho’s wonderful home sliding in the top of the third inning also impressed fans. …
┗Let’s do well tomorrowㅅㅂ
┗ㅅㅅㅅ 1st place is Gaza!!!
┗Ah, I’m anxious. Aren’t I going to fall again?
┗Still, I’m glad that even a fierce warrior hit a home run.
┗┗ㄹㅇ The game was boring, but I’m glad I got one.
-But are you okay? How are you okay?
┗ㄹㅇㅋㅋㅋ This little bastard is just a beast
┗Maeng Hao, 1 point is good, but just take care of yourself. If you leave, the season will really end
┗┗ㄹㅇ
*
[AT Thunders and Volcano Falcons, Volcano Falcons and AT Thunders. The fierce battle between the two teams for first place will take place here at Daejeon Hwasan Falcons Park. Hello, Commissioner.]
[Hello.]
[Yesterday’s match was really fun, wasn’t it?]
[You’re right. As expected, as it was a match between the 1st and 2nd place teams, the level of both teams was very high. It was a match between Chae Jae-hyun, one of the top three left-handers in the league, and Park Jun-hyung, AT’s reliable starting pitcher. In the end, AT collapsed in the bullpen, so the game was better, right?]
[Yes. In fact, the two teams are not strong in bullpen.]
[That’s right. Hwasan has a great starting lineup consisting of Sunghyun, Garcia, Chae Jaehyun, Kim Minjun, and Markel, right? There is even talk about whether Markel, a foreign starter, may be the 5th starter. Except for Min-Jun Kim and Markel, everyone has more than 10 wins each, and Min-Jun Kim and Markel also have 9 and 8 wins, so if this momentum continues, there may be a record of five starting pitchers winning 10 wins.]
[The AT Thunders have a strong batting lineup.]
[You’re right. AT Thunders currently has the best hitter in the league, Ji Maeng-ho, as well as reliable veterans such as Woo Kwan-hyung, Choi Jin-cheol, Gi Ki-joo, and Kim Su-ho, as well as new hitters such as Yoon Seong-tae, Jeong Hwi-cheol, and Baek Jeong-jin. And they boast the best batting lineup in the league, including Williams, who quenched AT’s long-standing thirst for foreign batsmen.]
[As expected, this series can be seen as a battle between the spear and the shield.]
[AT’s starting lineup is quite good, including Krongs, Bellingham, Jang Yoon, and Park Jun-hyung, and Hwasan’s batting team is also very good, with Choi Si-woo, Joe McD, and Kim Joo-yeop centered on Lee Yong-gi. However, both teams do not have very strong bullpens, so there is a very high probability that the game will be decided in a matchup between the two teams’ starting pitchers.]
[Was yesterday’s game like that?]
[You’re right. Yesterday, AT’s batting line targeted Chae Jae-hyun, but Chae Jae-hyun went 7 innings without collapsing even though he was shaken, and Park Jun-hyung came off the mound too quickly, allowing 3 runs in 4.1 innings. That was the factor that decided the win or loss yesterday.]
[Indeed, I will introduce AT’s lineup today to see whether they will be able to target Garcia, the foreign starter of the Hwasan Falcons. 1st hitter Ji Maeng-ho… … Number 9 hitter Baek Jeong-jin. The 9th batter and center fielder has changed since yesterday?]
[It seems like Baek Jeong-jin has a chance against Garcia, who is a power pitcher type.]
[Then, I will call Hwasan’s defensive lineup. Starting pitcher Garcia, catcher Lee Yong-gi provides the battery, and in the infield, Choi Si-woo starts from first base…]
[Garcia has appeared in 20 games and has an ERA of 2.90 and 126 strikeouts in 118.1 innings. As you can see from the fact that there are more strikeouts than innings, this is a style that strikes out batters.]
*
“Strike!”
Volcanoes’ starting pitcher Garcia’s ball goes into the zone from the first pitch. The speed is 150.2 km/h.
“The ball is good.”
“Is it when you’re so relaxed? “You lost yesterday, right?”
“Hey, bro. Are you playing for a day or two? All you have to do is win.”
“Are you saying that even though you know Hyun will be coming out tomorrow?”
“Are we going to Krongson tomorrow too?”
While talking, we look at each other intensely. Lee Yong-gi knows what kind of ball I am aiming for, and I know what kind of ball the battery is throwing. Garcia’s pitches were four-seam, two-seam, slub, and changeup. Among them, the changeup was not a pitch to throw to a hitter like me due to its low level of perfection.
‘Two-seamers are thrown the most, followed by slurbs, then four-seamers…’
Calmly reconsider the ratio of the pitches Garcia throws. The first pitch is a two-seamer that bends toward the body. It was a ball that hit the low side of the body accurately.
‘Is there a high possibility of going outside like this?’
Among his balls, the only one that bends outward is a slub. Moreover, a slub is also a type of curve anyway. There is no way to put it in the zone.
“Ball.”
‘Wow, this is it.’
As I expected, a slub was thrown that went wide to the outside. After all, this pleasure. The fact that Rossby hit the pitch without telling me always makes me excited.
“You look in a good mood? “What’s going on?”
“… Isn’t it?”
‘How did you know this? ‘Isn’t this person also possessed by a ghost?’
As expected, Lee Yong-gi’s insight was sharp. He was a man who could not let down his guard.
‘I want to see the four-seamer that has turned out this way…’
The count is one strike, one ball. A count where you can’t predict at all what kind of pitch you’ll throw and where. My choice was to wait.
“Ball.”
This time, the changeup goes low and goes into the mitt.
“Hey, the changeup doesn’t work.”
“Hmm…”
It was a ball that I would have swung and missed if I hadn’t thought to wait or got close to the zone, but I was lucky. One strike, two balls with this. If you’re an aggressive pitcher, it’s time to get into the zone. Garcia was a pretty aggressive pitcher, but I was a little nervous because he was a catcher.
‘As expected, at times like this…’
The best thing to do was to empty your mind and swing. After thinking about swinging everything as long as it doesn’t go too far, I wait for his next pitch. Garcia’s helmet was eventually thrown.
‘Be low… !’
The guy’s ball comes low. I swung the bat with the thought that it wouldn’t matter if I missed the swing.
Perfect!
No matter how he managed to hit the bat, his hands felt like they were going to be sticky. A batted ball heading to the left! I quickly threw the bat and ran toward first base.
‘Mr. Rossby! What about batted balls? ‘Run to second base?’
Rossby didn’t answer, so I glanced at the batted ball. The batted ball, which was flying in a high parabola, passed the outfielder’s head and gradually fell.
‘Near the fence! Should I skip it? Should I pass over?’
The left fielder of the Volcanoes leans his back against the fence and takes a stance. First, second base! As he was about to step on second base, a loud cheer rang out from the stands.
-Wow!!!
The left fielder leans his back against the fence and lowers his glove.
-Ji Maeng-ho! Ji Maengho! Ji Maengho!
“Heavy rain!!”
I ended up screaming at the home runs I hit in two consecutive games without Rossby’s help. Two consecutive home runs against top pitchers in the league, Jaehyun Chae and Garcia!
‘Fuck, this is it! Have you seen Mr. Rossby?’
… Naturally, there was no reply from Mr. Rossby, who was looking at the cheerleader’s armpits.