Chapter 735 – Episode 722. Class Is Forever. (3)

[Matt Tias’ huge throw! It eases the pitcher’s shoulders!]

[Wow, the pop time just came out to 1.78 seconds? If the pop time is this high, even Ji will have no choice but to die. Tias’ average pop time is 1.89 seconds, and when he blocks a stolen base, it is about 1.85 seconds, so this throw is his personal best.]

[With this, Ji records his first stolen base failure in the Major League. Ji was recording 14 consecutive stolen bases, but Tias stopped him. Ji’s stolen base success rate in Korea was 99.3%. He had 294 stolen bases and 2 missed bases, but he hadn’t missed a stolen base in the past 3 years? Tias can boast about this apology.]

“That guy is nothing special!”

“Matt! “You bastard caught me today!”

“Hwiik! This is it, Matt!”

All Angels players welcomed Matt Tias in unison as he came back with his hand pounding his mitt after blocking Ji Maeng-ho’s stolen base. He was a little violent, including whistling and hitting his helmet.

And in a way, it was only natural that Tias was welcomed so warmly. Among major league teams, Ji Maeng-ho’s ability that draws the most attention is his ability to steal bases.

Hitting .400 and hitting 60 home runs in Korea actually made players playing in the major leagues think, ‘Maybe I could set records like that if I played in the Korean league, but 294 stolen bases and 2 errors?’ This is because the records were incomprehensible to human common sense.

In addition, Ji Maeng-ho’s record for stolen bases before catching this stolen base was 14 stolen bases with a 100% success rate.

Is it impossible to prevent Ji Maeng-ho from stealing bases as he gave up 3 stolen bases in 2 games in this series? With that thought in mind, it was natural for the Angels players’ morale to rise.

‘Okay, it’s worth a try today.’

Trout, who was watching the scene, also had a strong intuition that he could win today. And at the center of that intuition was his own sense of hitting. He felt like his batting condition was at its best these days.

When the season just started, my hitting skills were gradually decreasing as I started hitting well-hit balls, but starting from the last series against Kansas City, my hitting skills started to improve, and I recorded a hit in 7 consecutive games, and in today’s game, I finally hit a home run in 14 games. Succeeded in shooting.

In particular, when he went to bat today, the pitch of Singer, the opponent’s starting pitcher, was almost visible. Just like in the heyday. The result was a home run. And Trout was confident that he would show the same performance as the previous at-bat throughout today’s game.

The score was tied at 3:3, but unlike the games we had lost so far, today’s game felt really different.

‘Hey, let’s grab this game and bounce back.’

The team’s current record is 4 wins and 11 losses. However, it was still early in the season, and it was too early to give up on the wild card game. And Trout knew he didn’t have many days left to maintain his current form, so he really wanted to play fall baseball this season, as he always has.

My last fall was 2014. Although it had been more than 10 years, the memories of that time were still as vivid to Trout as if it were yesterday.

Until now, he has not been able to advance to fall due to injuries to himself or bad news for the team, but if he can break the momentum of the Yankees, who are on a 14-game winning streak, there may be a chance for the team to bounce back and go to fall baseball. There was.

However, even though there were runs scored from a lucky hit in the first inning and the luck of catching Ji Maeng-ho at second base, it was obvious that if he missed this game, he would probably not even be able to enter fall baseball this season like other seasons.

… Therefore, this game is a must-win for the team’s rebound.

“Base on balls.”

“Waaaaa!!”

“Good, Wyatt! Let’s just keep going like this!”

And as if the players felt Trout’s feelings, Langford, the team’s second batter and leadoff hitter, got a walk and got on base. Trout held the bat tightly and braced himself to go to the waiting box.

‘Okay, I can solve it.’

Trout had a stigma of not being able to hit when it mattered, but he was different today. Because Singer’s contribution was clearly visible.

Now at bat, Custard is currently showing the best performance on the team. Custard was a player who improved every year, recording a batting average of .206 and 24 home runs the year before last and a batting average of .288 and 23 home runs last year. This season, he was a reliable player with a batting average of .300 and already hit 6 home runs. He was a player.

‘Please, if you are going to die, die alone.’

However, looking at the custard, Trout was praying that there would be no double play. We didn’t know when the Yankees’ batting line would fire up again, and we needed as many points as possible to win against the Yankees.

Moreover, if a double play was made with Ji Maeng-ho at second base, the team’s heated atmosphere could have calmed down in an instant.

‘Probably 100% yes.’

Trout, who has been playing for the Angels for nearly 20 years, knew very well that the team he was playing for was that kind of team. At the moment when Trout was thinking negatively based on his previous experience, Langford, who was a runner on first base, ran to second base,

“Safe!”

The second base umpire’s arms are spread wide. Now the situation is 2nd base with no outs.

Perfect!

But Trout wasn’t the only one thinking about the team. Custard’s batted ball passed slightly over the shortstop’s head, and Langford, who was a runner on second base, ran home.

[At home! At home! Three leaves! 4:3! The LA Angels are ahead again!]

‘Okay! This is a team!’

This season, we feel like a team for the first time in a long time. Since the team was stuck with 4 wins and 11 losses, there was no opportunity to feel it until now, but with Ji Maeng-ho at second base, there was a strong feeling that the team was united as one.

And now it’s his turn to show himself as the team’s main hitter. Trout went into his at-bat believing in his condition today,

“Ball.”

He calmly picked out the first pitch of the opponent’s starter, Singer. And the second ball thrown.

“Strike!”

‘Outside, towards the borderline? Good… I can see it, I can see it.’

The first pitch slider was on the outside, and this fastball was on the outside as well. It was very obvious that the opponent was trying to suppress long balls by not giving him the ball inside his body. Probably, the next ball will also be outside. However, Trout was not such a poor hitter that he could not turn an outside ball into a home run.

As Trout thought, Singer’s fastball once again heads outward.

‘… ‘Now!’

… And that ball is the ball Trout is aiming for!

Ta – Aak!

A cheerful hitting sound echoes through the ground. Trout, who had thrown close to 500 balls over the fence in the big leagues, watched the batted ball with confidence,

[Trout’s batted ball! We’re going after center field and right field! And you can’t catch it! Trout’s two-run home run that widened the score by 3 points! Score 6:3!]

… Just as Trout felt, the batted ball went straight over the fence.

“Ugh! Let’s go! Friends!”

Trout, who was watching the hit, threw the bat toward the dugout and roared. Trout was so uninteresting that some even said he had no star potential, but he felt that this game could be the turning point for this season, so he roared loudly like an autumn baseball game.

“Mike! Mike! Mike!”

“Let’s go! Angels!”

The dugout responds to the home run ceremony of Trout, the team’s spiritual leader. After that, the Angels’ batting line was unable to target Singer and no points were scored, but the atmosphere in the stadium had already changed to that of the Angels.

[… Canning catches the jersey! One out. … Soto is allowed to walk. … Out! Out! Canning ends the third inning with no runs.]

And Canning, the team’s starting pitcher, seemed to maintain that momentum by blocking the inning with no runs, and with one out in the top of the fourth inning, Choi Joo-tae’s double hit and Singer eventually left the mound.

[Singer comes down from the mound and Sean Boyle is now on the mound. This is his first appearance this season, and he appeared in 13 games as a starter last season, recording 4 wins, 5 losses, and an ERA of 7.06.]

[It seems like they’ve put up a player who will likely have to block long innings, right? In addition, the Yankees are currently on a 14-game winning streak and most of the games played by the sure-win team, so it seems like they decided it would be burdensome to raise it from the beginning of the game.]

Luckily for the Angels, the Yankees were on a 14-game winning streak and were consistently putting in a winning pitch in every game, so the pitcher on the mound for the Yankees wasn’t a very good pitcher.

[… Strikeout two batters in a row! Sean Boyle ends the crisis with one out and two on second base!]

Of course, that doesn’t mean the Angels’ batting lineup is easy to attack.

[… Strike out! … Strike out! … Verdugo’s batted ball is caught by the left fielder! Three out inning ends!]

However, because Canning was holding on, the score was not narrowed, and the top of the fifth inning began with Custard coming up to bat again.

‘This inning is really important. It’s common to be caught up without being able to attack a new pitcher. Considering the Yankees’ batting lineup, the 3-point gap is still not comfortable.’

And Trout knew this inning was important. It was a common pattern to attack the starting pitcher and score a large amount of points, but then get blocked by a new pitcher and eventually catch up with the score before being reversed.

What we need now is something extra. Trout went into the stand-by at-bat with the belief that he had to score,

Ta – Aak!

Custard, who is currently boasting the best hitting ability in the team, went well over the center fence.

[Custard’s batting ball! It won’t come back! Angels ahead 7:3!]

Trout looked a little teary-eyed knowing there was a hitter thinking the same thing as him, but the game wasn’t over yet. However, since the burden of adding more points was no longer present, Trout lightly pushed Boyle’s ball, and second baseman Ji Maeng-ho dived toward the batted ball, but the fast ball grazed his glove and passed sideways.

[Trout scores 3 hits in 3 at-bats! Did you really catch the day today?]

[This is the Trout we are looking forward to! Trout, who was hitting .107 before the series started, immediately raised his batting average to .205.]

[… Shanuel’s batted ball was caught by right fielder and out. Now the situation is 1 out and 1 base. … Ah! Trout runs! Safe! Trout lands on second base! Trout’s first stolen base of the season is recorded in this situation!]

[You weren’t expecting Trout to run at all, right? Is this big? The pressure a pitcher feels is different between 1 out and 2nd base and 1 out and 1st base. Trout, he looks like he is in his prime today, hitting a home run and running to second base.]

[… Cabrera’s hit! It goes past the shortstop! But Trout stops at third base!]

[Because it was a fast ball, it was difficult to go home, right?]

[Now the situation is 1 out, 1st and 3rd bases. … Ferreira’s ball flies high. Ohape catches it, two outs. There is now one out count remaining. … I endure it! Tias walks to first base after a full count game! And now Choi Joo-tae is at bat.]

[I hope Choi Joo-tae also shows something… Actually, Choi Joo-tae’s batting skills are good these days, right? He recorded a hit today, making it five consecutive hits, and yesterday and today, he recorded a double, making him two extra-base hits in a row?]

[… Choi Joo-tae! Pulled it! This batted ball! Verdugo follows! Ah! I didn’t catch it! Choi Joo-tae’s batted ball bounces off the fence! The runner on third base is already at home! The runner on second base goes all the way home! The runner on first base also goes home! Coming in! Choi Joo-tae’s sweeping and timely hit! Score 10:3! The pride of Korea! Choi Joo-tae!]

[Because there were two outs, the runner on first base was also running, right? Tias is not that fast of a player, but he made it all the way to home! The Angels’ two veterans show good performances.]

[The game is completely tilted towards the Angels. Ah… Boyle goes down, and Hayden Melda comes up. Last season… … The Angels attack begins in the top of the 7th inning with the score remaining at 10:3. Oh, there were a lot of changes in the defensive position. Coach Mattingly seems to have decided that the game is completely lost, right?]

[Actually, while winning 14 games in a row, we were not able to give our main players proper rest? Well, it’s a reasonable choice.]

[… … Game over! The Angels escape their three-game losing streak thanks to Trout’s 3 hits in 4 at-bats, 2 home runs, and 5 RBIs! We beat the Yankees, who were on a 14-game winning streak, 12:5, and recorded our 5th win of the season!]

‘Whoa… Let’s just go up like this. Let’s make it to the real postseason this season.’

The game ended like that, and Trout clenched his fists in the dugout, desperately hoping that the team would bounce back with this win.