Chapter 739 – Episode 726. A Batsman Who Was Just Brought in With Money.

“Strike! Out!”

Rodon struck out Cardenas, Tampa Bay’s sixth batter, and finished the top of the second inning with a three-out strike for the second consecutive inning. Rodon’s pitching today was enough to make you wonder why a guy who knows how to throw like this has been pooping on the mound.

‘Is it because they changed the catcher? You seem to be in good condition today.’

Well, the catcher changed, but honestly, I didn’t understand why he would suddenly throw the ball well just because the catcher changed, but the important thing was that Rodon was in good condition today. So much so that he could not be defeated even in a match against Mac Clanahan.

Of course, the batters we faced were different. As far as I remember, there was a big difference between Tampa Bay’s batting lineup and ours, to the extent that I knew before today’s game that the team OPS differed by about 0.2.

The reason for such a big difference is that although me, who maintains an OPS of 1.6, and Judge and Soto, who have an OPS of 1.2, played a big role, even excluding the three of us, Hall, Kelnick, and Volpi are recording OPS of 0.9. As such, our batting lineup was pretty good.

“… Strike! Out!”

“Base on balls.”

“… Out!”

“… Out!”

Although those results were not a guarantee that he could attack McClanahan.

McClanahan finished the second inning by getting all the other batters out except for a walk to Hall.

‘After all, McClanahan is McClanahan? He’s not called the best left-hander for nothing.’

Honestly, when he threw a slider that didn’t break in the first inning, I thought he was the best pitcher, but when I saw him face the remaining batters, it seemed like he was the best pitcher. At this point, does it seem like that slider was thrown on purpose?

‘Sure, his hand seemed to bend a little differently than when he first threw the slider… Could it be that he intentionally threw it like that? What do you think, Mr. Rossby?’

‘Is that so, you idiot? What pitcher in the world throws a shit ball like that on purpose? That ball was a ball that even a little baseball player could hit.’

‘Ah, but a player as good as Mackle throws a ball like that from the first inning? It doesn’t make sense.’

‘… ‘Bloody hell.’

Mr. Rossby said no, but with a pitcher as good as McClanahan, it was quite possible.

‘It felt like my hand was a little stiffer… But can I tell them apart at that moment? … I should just filter out the slider.’

The defense went into the top of the 3rd inning with the decision not to hit his slider until it was clear.

Perfect!

As I got a hit from the leadoff batter, I thought, ‘That’s right.’ But Rodon put out the subsequent batters and ended the third inning with no runs.

An unexpected pitching battle unfolding in an unexpected situation…

When I thought about the atmosphere of the team, I thought that Rodon would give up and lose to McClanahan by 1–2 points, but this was better than expected.

Of course, Rodon throwing well and the batters attacking McClanahan’s pitches were two different stories.

“… Out!”

“… Out!”

With the previous two batters getting out, my second at-bat came with two outs.

‘After all, I have to do this.’

The current team atmosphere is not very good. There were fans swearing on the way home from work, and there were reporters writing strange articles, so I didn’t want this situation to last too long.

If it were AT, I would have tried to raise the mood somehow, but I couldn’t do that here, so there is only one way for me to raise the team’s mood.

‘If you win anyway, the team atmosphere gets better.’

What you need to win is score.

‘It’s two outs, so I’ll just put it in front and pull the hell out.’

After pledging to take a full swing to hit the home run needed to score, I go to bat.

‘Slider, outside.’

And his first pitch choice was an outside backdoor slider.

‘Let’s endure this for now. ‘I’m not sure if it’ll get into the zone and I don’t know what kind of slider it is.’

Rather than thinking about hitting, I watched the first pitch, concentrating on the movement of his hand.

“Strike!”

A strike is declared when the ball hits the low borderline on the outside.

‘Write… Was this the first slide? The angle is good, and it’s fast.’

Although I took a strike from the first pitch, the situation wasn’t particularly bad. Rather, it feels like I know for sure the form of his first slider? His second slider seemed to be distinguishable because his hand felt slightly more diagonal.

‘I’m not saying it’s like that.’

‘Oh, there is a big difference in level between when Mr. Rossby played and now, of course that was intentional. Mr. Rossby, have you ever seen Lefty 100 mph? There isn’t one. Ugh, what can I talk about with someone I haven’t even met in person?’

‘You bitch…’

‘Oh, aren’t you trying to get a grip now? Quickly, quickly!’

‘… It’s a fastball. Outside.’

‘Okay.’

And the second ball of the selected guy is a fastball. His fastball had a bit of a two-seam movement due to tailing, and it felt like something was rising, so it was difficult to hit, but fortunately, the fastball itself didn’t feel like it had changed much since we met in 2023.

In other words, for me, who had been practicing hitting his fastball all day yesterday, it was a ball I was familiar with, so much so that I was able to hit it on target and create a foul home run as soon as I saw the first pitch.

If I practice timing against one pitcher like this, my timing may not be right for the next few games, but it didn’t really bother me because winning today was more important.

‘Come, come.’

The guy takes a familiar pitching form and throws the ball.

‘… ‘High!’

The first trajectory is a high zone. A ball that started with this trajectory would usually end up in the center, but this guy’s ball had the feeling of rising, so I timed it slightly upward and swung the bat right away.

It’s too late to watch the ball anymore.

Perfect!

However, that judgment may have been a bit late, and although the launch angle was good, it deviated slightly from the center to the right. Seeing the batted ball fly to the right, he thought he swung it quickly, but it seemed like the timing of his batting was a little late.

‘Ah, fuck. I should have aimed for a changeup… !’

… I thought that for a moment, but as I was running to first base, I caught a glimpse of the speed of the batted ball, and it was something unusual.

‘With this launch angle and this exit speed… !’

The center fielder is seen running toward the fence. Now the warning track. And then the guy leans against the fence and jumps high. But the only thing the center fielder’s glove could catch was air.

Although it was hit a little late, the result was a home run.

-Wow!!!

And Yankee Stadium fills with huge cheers.

I responded to the shout by raising my right-hand high, and slowly slowed down and circled the base.

“Wow, that was a huge home run. Ji.”

As I rounded the base, Judge was waiting for me with his right arm raised. I responded to Judge’s compliment with a smile, high-fived my forearms, and entered the dugout.

“Ji! Ji! Ji! Ji!”

“You crazy bastard! How did you hit this?!”

“New King of New York!”

And of course, the dugout was in a festive mood, unlike the stuffy atmosphere of the past few days. I hit a home run in the game the day before, but the clearly different reaction from that time showed how important this home run was.

The players probably felt it instinctively as well. Considering Rodon’s condition today, this one home run is enough to end his terrible losing streak. After enjoying the players’ wild celebration, I immediately ran to the coach to check why the timing was late.

“Hey, Joel. “How many miles was it just now?”

“102 miles. It’s really amazing that you passed this ball. Ji.”

“For some reason, it was a little late.”

And the answer that came out of the coach’s mouth was 102 miles (164.1 km/h). 102 mph is probably his highest velocity. And it was the kind of ball that made my bat feel slow enough. But it was that fast, so even if it missed slightly, it would have passed.

If it had been a little slower, there was a chance that it wouldn’t have passed. Well, if it had been a little slower, I think I would have hit the target.

Anyway, 1 point for this.

However, even if one point was scored, McClanahan’s attack was not easy.

As if to prove that it’s not for nothing that they say they’ll bring back a left-handed fireballer from hell, he continued to pitch well even after hitting a home run against me. To be honest, I hit it because I knew it, but I wasn’t sure that I would be able to hit a ball like this with his breaking ball in mind.

“… Out!”

“… Out!”

“… Out!”

So the pitching battle between Rodon’s pitching, trying to atone for shitting on the mound over the past three games, and McClanahan, the left-handed fireballer from hell, became more intense with each inning.

“Base on balls!”

And in his third at-bat, he threw only an outside ball and gave me a walk, and I tried hard to time the steal, but when he hit the batters behind him with only a fastball and got three outs, I felt something crazy. As expected, it was scary.

And then came the bottom of the 7th inning.

“94 miles? “My restraint is a bit low?”

“You look exhausted, right?”

“The pitcher is tired! Let’s take it easy! Comfortably!”

McClanahan, who was throwing fastballs in the low 90s, gradually slowed down, and eventually Torrance got on base with a walk, putting a runner on base for the first time in a long time. Stanton is now at bat.

‘Should we prepare for defense soon?’

Stanton’s OPS, which was a starting pitcher when a pinch hitter or left-handed pitcher came out, was quite high at 0.846, but his current batting average was 0.227, so he was not a hitter worthy of expectations, so when he tried to get his gloves,

Ta – Aak!

A roar was heard from the ground.

“And…”

“As expected, it’s Jean.”

“I passed this up. Was it just a slider?”

“Uh. It didn’t break. No matter how old you are, you shouldn’t throw a ball like that against Jean.”

And the result was a huge over-the-park home run that passed over the central electronic display board. Stanton’s batted ball, which seemed to have flown at least 140 meters, was enough to end the game.

‘Okay, if you spent that much money, you should show me something like this. I hope we can do better and maintain team discipline.’

*

-New York Yankees! Escape from 3 consecutive losses! 1st place shooter by 1.5 games!

… Ji Maeng-ho’s solo home run in the bottom of the third inning put the New York Yankees ahead by one run, but the pitching battle between Rodon and McClanahan continued. The balance increased in the bottom of the 7th inning. McClanahan, who gave up a walk to Torrance, who played as the 7th hitter, allowed Stanton to hit a 143 m over-the-park two-run home run, making the game 3-0. McClanahan left the mound after allowing 3 runs in 7 innings. < /I>

And the Yankees’ batting lineup, which was tightly tied to McClanahan, hit Lopez in the 8th inning. After Ji Maeng-ho, who appeared as the leadoff hitter in the bottom of the 8th inning, got a walk, Judge’s two-run home run, Soto’s double, Hall’s single, and Kelnick’s sacrifice fly, the Yankees’ batting line scored 3 runs in the 8th inning alone against second pitcher Lopez. Pull it out…

 



The Yankees, who were mired in a swamp of three straight losses, broke the losing streak with home runs by the team’s key players, Ji Maeng-ho, Stanton, and Judge, and maintained first place in the American League East Division, and lost a game gap of 1.5 games against the Tampa Bay Rays…

WP: Carlos Rodon 7 innings, no runs, 7 K

LP: Shane McClanahan, 7 innings, 3 runs, 10 K

SV: Armando Camacho 2 innings, no runs, 2 K

Final hit: Ji Maeng-ho (bottom of 3rd inning, solo home run)