Chapter 854 – Episode 840. A Confrontation That Cannot Be Backed Down. (1)
[… Out! Ohtani escapes the bases loaded crisis! He completed his mission today by pitching 7 innings and allowing 2 runs!]
[… Out! Cole also preserves the lead by allowing 1 run in 7 innings!]
[In the top of the 8th inning, Grove is on the mound for the Dodgers. He has allowed 1.1 scoreless innings in this World Series. … Inning over! … Camacho blocks the Dodgers’ attack in the bottom of the 8th inning! Appeared in five World Series games, allowing only one run in five innings!]
[Wow, Camacho’s performance was perfect this regular season, and I can’t believe he performed like this in the World Series as well. This is unbelievable boldness from a young player.]
[… Evan Phillips closing out the top of the 9th inning! There is now only one inning left in Game 5. The pitcher who came on the mound in the bottom of the 9th inning was Yankees closer Mason Miller. He has 45 saves with a 2.35 earned run average in the regular season and one run allowed in two innings in the World Series.]
[Even though he gave up 1 goal, it’s safe to say that Miller is the best finisher in the league, right? Yankees fans will all expect the same thing.
[The leadoff hitter is Mookie Betts. … Out! Now it’s Smith at bat. 2 home runs and 5 RBIs. And it is recording an OPS of 0.992.]
[You must be careful. Smith has a perfect hitting feel in this World Series.]
[Strike! Out! The New York Yankees are now only one out away from victory! And Joo, the number 6 hitter, comes into the batter’s box.]
[Joo’s hitting is terrible since entering the World Series? 2 hits and 1 walk in 18 at-bats. He’s batting .101 and has an OPS of just .269. Of course, that doesn’t mean you can let down your guard.]
[… Out! Mason Miller! We perfectly protect the 1-point margin of victory! The Yankees lead the series 3-2! And, the fate of the game will be decided in New York, the home of the Yankees!]
*
-Judge did it! Can the Yankees achieve their first milestone in 18 years?
… Meanwhile, the Yankees, who were in scoring position with no outs due to Ji Maeng-ho’s stolen base, found themselves with two outs as Soto and Stanton were out. But the Yankees had a judge. Judge, who had a batting average of .100 until his previous at-bat, hit a two-run home run at a desperate moment…
With this game, Judge hit a home run in three consecutive games…
W: Call 7.0 IP, 1 run conceded.
L: Ohtani 7.0 IP, 2 runs conceded.
SV: Miller 1.0IP, 0 runs conceded.
*
Ta – Aak!
-Waaaaa!!!!
‘Ah… Fuck. Multiple home runs here…’
When I saw Ohtani’s batted ball over the fence, I could feel that the game was going downhill.
Is it because Ohtani and Cole came to New York so happy after winning the fifth game? Or was it because he gave up a run in the top of the first inning on Ohtani’s home run, but was able to turn it around in the very next inning with my walk and Soto’s home run, and was already in the mood for victory, so he let his guard down?
“Change pitcher!”
Gilbert, who always showed solid performance and took charge of the team’s mound, eventually collapsed, recording an unbecoming performance of 6 runs in 2.2 innings. And at the most important moment.
But I couldn’t blame Gilbert for that. Gilbert was a player who pitched more than 230 innings in the playoffs this season.
The manager probably didn’t expect that Gilbert would collapse, and Merda, who couldn’t warm up, came on the mound and loaded the bases without even going 0.1 inning. In the end, Sean’s hit increased the score.
Then, consecutive walks were issued to Otani and Tatis, and the scoreboard read an unbelievable score of 9:2.
“Out!”
Fortunately, the inning ended with senior Woo Seong, who had warmed up, finishing off Betts, but the score of 7 runs in 3 innings seemed too big.
‘No, if you hit a home run in three at-bats, you get three points. If you hit with two runs, you get 6 points… It’s worth following.’
I pushed myself and was able to get a walk in the bottom of the third inning and take advantage of Soto’s timely hit to get home, but the inning ended with no more points scored.
In the bottom of the 4th inning with a 6-run lead, Glasnow, who came on the mound, cleaned up the batter in front of him and ended the inning with a three-way strike.
‘Under…’
The fact that the inning ended in front of me means that instead of putting runners in front of Soto and Judge, they will face me and give up at least one run…
In effect, it was a declaration of victory.
And as the Dodgers declared victory, the score gap widened further. With my hit and Soto’s timely hit, we went up to 1 point, but despite Woosung’s best efforts to block the opponent’s batting line, Tatis and Betts ended up hitting back-to-back home runs, bringing the score back up.
‘Oh, fuck. Except for Senior Woosung, the other bastards are throwaway bastards, so I can’t say anything about them…’
Woosung senior recorded 3 runs in 2.1 innings in this game. However, he could not blame senior Woo Seong or coach Mattingly for not replacing senior Woo Seong. Excluding senior Woo Seong, the remaining pitchers are Camacho and Miller.
However, it was impossible to use a sure-win pitch in a game where the score was already high, and using other pitchers was the same as giving up on a real victory.
“Base on balls!”
However, when another walk occurred, the manager finally made a decision. We decided to let go of the game, which was already up to 8 points, and make plans for tomorrow…
I did my best in the remaining game, going 1 hit in 2 at-bats and hitting a two-run home run, but the result was 13:6. They were unable to catch up with the Dodgers, who had beaten them from the beginning. To be honest, if it weren’t for Seungcheol, who went 0-hit in 5 at-bats and cut off every important element, it wouldn’t have been strange to see a 10-point difference.
‘Yes, we also scored 17 points, so you should try it too.’
In Korea, we had never faced a team as good at batting as our team, so we did not expect this situation, but the Dodgers are also a strong enough team that they can score double-digit scores at any time.
In particular, the five players from Sean to Ohtani, Tatis, Betts, and Smith were not affected by our batting order, so it was inevitable that the pitchers would collapse.
But it was better that way. Because for the first time in a long time, I was able to become desperate for something like the WBC or the Olympics.
‘Fuck, I will definitely win tomorrow.’
*
[Game over! The Dodgers won 13-6, leaving hope for their third straight World Series victory! Now the fate of the two teams will be decided in Game 7!]
[Wow, the most recent Game 7 match was almost 10 years ago in 2019, and the match is as tight as expected between teams that deserve to be called the strongest teams of all time!]
[Now there is no place to retreat anymore! Then we will see you tomorrow at this time!]
*
“Director. “I think it will be difficult to use that ‘strategy’ in tomorrow’s game.”
“Huh? Patrick, what does that mean? Except for the day the call came out and the day the Yankees’ batting lineup exploded, that ‘strategy’ has continued to work. Patrick, we won the game you played in too.”
Dodgers manager Delvin thought for a moment about the words of Patrick Cooper, who is scheduled to be the starter tomorrow.
This was because it was difficult to accept or reject the proposal from the perspective of having made the score 3:3 through the strategy proposed by Joo Seung-cheol.
‘If I let Ji run wild… Umm… I would like to reject something like this out of pride.’
It is usually said that baseball is a pitcher’s game, but in a game where the team’s third consecutive World Series victory was at stake, it was difficult to change the strategy to take care of the pitcher’s pride.
“It’s hard to throw the ball when you’re so conscious of the batting lineup.”
However, Coach Delvin nodded his head at Cooper’s next words. It was because I felt like I knew what Cooper meant when he said this.
“It’s definitely hard to control the lineup with a knuckleball…”
Cooper’s main weapon is the knuckleball. With that knuckleball, Cooper achieved an unbelievable record of 13 wins, 3 losses, and a 2.85 ERA for a second-year pitcher who was only 25 years old.
And the knuckleball was a ball that could not be predicted by the throwing pitcher, the catching catcher, the batter hitting the ball, or anyone watching the ball at the moment the pitcher threw it.
This means that a pitcher cannot intentionally walk someone or strike out someone. Cooper had a point because the knuckleball pitcher was not an ordinary pitcher.
Moreover, considering that Cooper, who had pitched well all season, suddenly faltered…
“Coach, even if Ji is the best guess hitter in the world, you wouldn’t be able to predict where my knuckleball will land.”
“I understand, Patrick. “If that is what you mean.”
So Coach Delvin agreed with Cooper’s words. In fact, behind that permission, he also wanted to give confidence to the young pitcher.
Patrick Cooper is a pitcher who will lead the Dodgers in the future. If he wins this game, he will be a great asset to Cooper.
Moreover, considering the batting lineup that hit hard in yesterday’s game, even if Ji Maeng-ho scored 3–4 runs, it didn’t seem that difficult to score one more run against Rodon.
Well, if Cooper faltered, all we had to do was bring in Miller or Yamamoto.
“Thank you. Director. I will repay this trust in tomorrow’s game.”
“Okay, Patrick. Let’s enjoy the joy of winning tomorrow together.”
After Cooper left, Coach Delvin became lost in thought. Delvin was appointed to the Dodgers in 1925 and achieved a milestone of two consecutive World Series wins, but since the previous World Series had ended in a one-sided affair, he could not help but feel nervous in this situation where everything depended on one game.
‘If this continues, is Joo the only problem left? If only Joo survived, it would be much easier.’
The only problem left for the Dodgers now is Joo Seung-cheol, who has 2 hits in 24 at-bats, 0-3, and has not recorded a single extra-base hit, and is in extreme slump.
Still, Joo Seung-cheol’s center field defense could not be removed from the lineup because the Dodgers had no replacement player, but Manager Delvin thought it would be good to see Joo Seung-cheol come back to life a little.
‘What’s the problem?’
Joo Seung-cheol seemed to be in too much of a hurry even for himself. It was as if he had met his parents’ enemies.
And it was even more frustrating that I couldn’t figure out why Joo Seung-cheol, who had won two championships, was suddenly acting like this. Coach Delvin had been saying a few words to Joo Seung-cheol all this while, but none of them had any effect, and he was even doing it well during training.
‘Well, sometimes batters suddenly fall into a slump. If you wait this long, you can adjust the batting order.’
This is not a matter of technology, but a matter of heart. All we can do is hope that Joo Seung-cheol will solve his heart problems on his own.
‘I hope we can win safely tomorrow.’
The final day of the World Series was approaching amid Coach Delvin’s earnest prayers.
*
Perfect!
I forcefully hit the bat with the shaking ball, but the batted ball rolls helplessly across the infield.
-Wow!!!
However, as you can see from the cheers echoing through Yankee Stadium, just because a batted ball rolls into the infield does not necessarily mean you are out.
“Safe!”
The shortstop’s throw arrived, but my foot had already touched first base.
‘It would have been better if it was a home run, but it’s a shame.’
It’s unfortunate, but regardless of whether it’s a home run or getting on base, it’s still 1 point. And when I saw that Rodon, who started today, struck out three batters in a row in the top of the first inning, one run in today’s game seemed quite big.
“Safe!”
“Safe!”
And the probability that a knuckleballer can block my steal is 0%!
Perfect!
-Wow!!!
– Soto! Soto! Soto!
Game 7, where everything of this season was at stake, was off to a good start with Soto’s sacrifice hit, and 1 point scored.