Chapter 827 – Episode 813. A Preview of the World Series? (3)

[No out, 1st base. Soto at bat. Soto’s sharp batted ball! The first baseman hits a straight line! Tatis catches it! And Judge couldn’t return to first base and got two outs in one go! Kudos to Yamamoto for his fantastic defense! Now it’s Stanton at bat. … Yamamoto strikes out Stanton! He concedes a tie, but no more points!]

[… Betts walks away. Palenski’s hit goes to shortstop, second base, and first base! 6-4-3 double play! Rodon ends the inning!]

[… Strike! Out! … Strike! Out! … Verdugo’s batted ball is caught by the left fielder! Yamamoto handles the Yankees’ attack in the bottom of the second inning with a three-way throw!]

[… Out! … Sean’s batted ball! It’s big! It hits the left wall and comes out! Meanwhile, Sean reached second base! And with 1 out and 2nd base, Ohtani comes to bat!]

[Ohtani has 4 home runs, 9 RBIs, and an OPS of 1.062 in the last 10 games. Rodon players must be careful.]

[… Fan! Rodon strikes out Ohtani! … Smith’s batted ball! Center field high! High! Far! Leave it behind! Catch it! Yankees center fielder Verdugo catches Smith’s big hit! The score is still 1:1! … Now, in the bottom of the third inning, Volpi hits the ball! First baseman! I can’t catch it! Volpi goes to second base! All the way to second base! Second base! Safe! Volpi hits a double with one out! Now, Ji Maeng-ho is at bat.]

[What choice will the Dodgers’ bench make? . In fact, it is Ji Maeng-ho with one out and second base. If you do this, there is a high chance that you will skip it.]

[First pitch, ball. … Cheek. … Cheek. If this is the case, there is a high probability that you will skip it, right? As it goes in high, a walk is declared.]

[I think I was planning to make the game as difficult as possible and win if the count improved, but Ji Maeng-ho filters out all the balls.]

[Now, 1 out, 1st and 2nd bases are in place.]

[Actually, although Judge produced an RBI today, he hasn’t been in very good batting form, hitting 2 home runs and posting an OPS of 0.747 in his last 10 games? It’s a good choice.]

[… Strike! Out! Now the situation is 2 outs, 1st and 2nd bases!]

[But now you have to be careful. Soto’s batting performance in the last 10 games is 5 home runs and an OPS of 1.230, so he is currently performing the second best in the Yankees’ batting lineup after Ji Maeng-ho?]

[… Soto’s hit! To the deepest part of Yankee Stadium! Far! Ah! Center fielder Joo Seung-cheol makes the catch! Catch the ball hitting the fence! In the top of the 3rd inning, let’s go! At the end of the third inning, Joo Seung-cheol! The center fielders of both teams show off their prowess!]

[Soto, this must be unfair, right? At least it was a double that hit the fence directly, and Joo Seung-cheol caught it.]

[Both teams show off a fierce pitching battle until the third inning! … In the top of the 4th inning, the leadoff hitter is number 4 hitter Tatis. … Swing strike! Out! Rodon strikes out! … Joo Seung-cheol walks. … Candelario’s hit! Second baseman! Catch it! Toss to second base! And to first base! 4-6-3! Double play! Ji Maeng-ho shows beast-like defense!]

[Wow, in addition to the pitcher’s battle, there’s even a parade of lake stars like this. In fact, this series between the Yankees and Dodgers has been nicknamed a preview of the World Series, and today is a great day.]

[… Yamamoto strikes out Stant! With one out, Vientos is now the number 5 batter at bat. … Vientos’ batted ball! Left! Left! Joo Seung-cheol follows! … Let’s go! This time it falls to a place where you can’t catch it! Score 2:1! Vientos’ solo shot to make up for a mistake in the first inning! Now the Yankees are ahead! … Yamamoto ends the inning without giving up any more runs.]

[… 2 outs, 1st and 3rd bases. Ohtani at bat. … Otani’s batted ball! The second baseman hits a straight line! Ji Maeng-ho catches a line drive hit! Rodon meets the winning pitcher requirement! … Out! … Out! Yamamoto throws out two batters. And at the plate is Ji Maeng-ho, who recorded two walks today!]

*

‘Baby, you look in good condition today.’

The game, which seemed like it would be easy with one run scored in the first inning, ended up being tighter than expected.

Of course, Vientos’ home run in the bottom of the fourth inning put us ahead by one point, but Rodon could collapse at any time, so an additional point was needed.

Still, it was my third time at bat, and I practiced against Yamamoto every time I rested in the dugout, so I was slowly getting used to Yamamoto’s pitches.

‘There are 88 pitches, so this will probably be my last at-bat.’

Most of the Dodgers’ bullpen scores in the 3-point range, so most of the bullpen players who come up in this situation are players who only do one thing. So, if I were to hit a home run, this at-bat had the highest probability.

‘Okay, let’s go. Mr. Rossby.’

After measuring the timing in my head again, I step into the batter’s box.

‘The first pitch is a fastball. Outward and high.’

‘Okay.’

The first pitch he chose was a high fastball, which can be said to be my weakness. He gave me two walks today, but his control looked good today, so there was a high probability that the ball would be thrown like Mr. Rossby said.

‘There’s no need to hit that ball from the first pitch for no reason.’

“Strike!”

‘Tsk, I probably would have been out if I had hit it.’

And he hits the first pitch exactly in the high outside corner. The best way to make a good hit is to hit the ball clearly. Even if I hit a ball like this, there was little chance of it being a good hit, so I wasn’t disappointed that it ended up being a strike.

‘Change-up, outside low.’

And the next ball he chose was a low outside changeup.

‘It looks like I’m going completely outward today.’

I was a little annoyed because it seemed like we were competing on the outside all day, but since I’ve dealt with a lot of balls like this since Korea, I calmed down and waited for his ball.

‘… Low!’

“Ball.”

And since I was familiar with it as I had played against it a lot, it wasn’t that difficult to choose which ball would be the ball.

‘It’s a change-up again. Outside, low.’

‘Seup…’ . I guess you’re planning on just throwing balls like this until I hit it?’

It is now common knowledge in the major leagues that I am good at hitting curveballs and changeups. Nevertheless, throwing a change-up means that you are prepared to walk because it was two outs anyway.

‘… If this continues, I will have no choice but to hit.’

However, because his pitch was the most noticeable, this at-bat was the one with the highest probability of hitting a home run in today’s game. When I thought about that, I felt like I should give up the bat even if it was even a little bit similar.

‘Yes, let’s believe in Yankee Stadium.’

Anyway, this is Yankee Stadium, which has a short distance from the right fence. Even if I miss, I could have gone over the fence if I applied the right amount of force, so I decided to hit the ball as long as it didn’t go too far.

Plus, his changeup wasn’t a very fast ball, so it was good to follow it with your eyes.

I made that decision and waited for him to succeed.

‘… ‘It’s coming!’

And the ball that leaves his hand flies in a slightly higher trajectory than the second ball. At this level, the trajectory deviates from the zone by about 0.5 points! This is enough… !

Perfect!

‘Write… !’

From the moment the bat came out, I bent my knee and hit the guy’s ball, but the sound of the hit wasn’t that good because it fell lower than I thought. However, as I ran to first base, I was lucky enough to see that the batted ball was slightly higher than the first baseman’s mitt, hit the foul line, and rolled.

‘It’s done!’

If you hit a ball like this, you can easily run to third base!

‘Third base!’

And since Mr. Rossby made the same decision as me, I ran toward third base at full speed without a moment of hesitation.

‘Hands first!’

Mr. Rossby’s instructions are heard along with the third base coach’s hand gesture telling him to slide. I followed the instructions and slid hand first toward third base. And as soon as you touch the base, the glove touches your calf.

The timing is perfect three-leaf timing.

“Safe!”

Fortunately, my sense was not wrong.

‘… Ha, but it’s a bit disappointing. In this case, it’s no different from just getting on base and then stealing to third base.’

Well, the slugging percentage may have increased a little, but it’s disappointing because what’s needed now is scores, not stats. Moreover, it was even more disappointing that the next batter, Judge, could not get over the fence as he had hit .201 and 7 ria in the last five games.

‘Please, Judge. Please hit it once.’

“Base on balls.”

‘Phew, this is the maximum.’

Fortunately, Judge gets a walk. Considering Judge’s condition these days, this was the best I could do and with Soto, who has been hitting hard these days, at the plate, I breathed a sigh of relief.

And when you are sighing with relief,

“Change pitcher!”

… The Dodgers threw the game-winning move first.

Although Soto was unable to get on base today as he recorded a double play, he made a sharp straight hit in his first at-bat and an outfield fly that went all the way to the fence in his second at-bat, all hard hits, so the Dodgers’ bench was the game-winner. 〈 Br〉

‘But it’s worth believing, but they get off right away without even completing the 5th episode. ‘Did you think it was a real World Series?’

Well, even considering that, the pitcher change was too quick. Is this too irregular a pitcher replacement?

Ta – Aak!

And, the results of such anomalies are usually not good. Soto’s batted ball bounced off the left wall, and I was able to easily return home. However, because it was toward the left and the ball was hit quickly, it was a bit disappointing that Judge could only get to third base.

“Strike! Out!”

The bottom of the 5th inning ends with Tun striking out. It was a little disappointing because it was 2 outs and 2nd and 3rd bases, but the score was still 3:1.

And the two-point score gap was not overturned until the end of the game.

Although Rodon hit a solo home run to Palenski, he allowed 2 runs over 6.2 innings, and in the 7th inning, Soto’s timely hit and Stanton’s sacrifice fly resulted in 2 runs. Following Rodon, Camacho pitched 1.1 innings, and Miller pitched 1.1 innings. If the game ended after one inning, the score was 5:2.

In that way, we were able to end Game 1 on a high note with our first win of the series against the Dodgers, and I was also able to leave work in a good mood, wondering what it would taste like if I drank Soyoung and Jia’s breast milk at the same time.

And that evening, greeted with anticipation,

“… So, I was excited all the way home from work today.”

“Meng Hao, did you expect that?”

“And… Oppa, you really seem pervert.”

“Anyway, Ji Maeng-ho, this guy perverts.”

“Hyunya, you’re out. “You don’t even produce breast milk.”

“Wow, what a piece of trash…” .”

“No, that’s the fact…”

“Meng Hao.”

“Huh?”

“But can you tell me how to eat it more deliciously?”

Soyoung gave me a suggestion.

“Ohtani is the starter for Game 3, right?”

“But?”

“Wouldn’t it taste better if we win the game?”

“… !”

… A suggestion that can definitely increase my competitive spirit.

‘Ohtani, you fell behind.’