"It was a situation we had to stop at all costs."
Samsung Lions left-handed reliable reliever Bae Chan-seung saved his team in trouble.
Samsung held off a fierce rally by NC Dinos on the 9th in Changwon to win 5-4, a one-run victory.
In the bottom of the eighth, with Samsung leading by three runs, Kim Tae-hoon was followed to the mound by left-hander Lee Seung-min. After inducing the first batter, Kim Joo-won, to a fly to center, he then issued consecutive walks to Han Seok-hyun and Park Min-woo. When Choi Jeong-won's grounder to second resulted in Park Min-woo being thrown out at second, it became two outs with runners on first and third.
Lee Seung-min was hit for an opposite-field double by Lee Woo-seong. All runners scored. Samsung faced a two-out, runner-on-second crisis, trailing by one. One hit would have tied the game.
Following Lee Seung-min, Bae Chan-seung took the mound and defused the crisis. As the runner was Lee Seung-min, whom he treats like an older brother, the sense of responsibility that he absolutely had to stop it reached its peak.
He struck out the first batter, Seo Ho-cheol, looking with a fastball that topped out at 154 km/h. With a sigh of relief, Samsung brought in closer Kim Jae-yoon for the ninth. Pinch hitters Do Tae-hoon, Kim Hyung-jun and Kim Han-byeol were all struck out. With that, Samsung preserved the one-run win and extended its winning streak to six since the game against the Hanwha Eagles in Daegu three days earlier.
Samsung's bullpen has a team earned run average of 3.76, trailing the LG Twins (3.66) in second place. Their excellent skills, combined with a sense of responsibility to stop each other's runners and absolute trust in teammates, make Samsung's relief corps even stronger.
Bae Chan-seung said on the club's official YouTube channel Lions TV, "(Lee) Seung-min had a runner, so it was a situation where I absolutely had to stop it. With a one-run lead I had to stop it no matter what. I bit down and threw to try to win. When I come out of the bullpen, I only think that I must go out and do my part. I went to the mound with the thought that I would get him no matter what."
Manager Park Jin-man also applauded, saying, "In the bottom of the eighth, Bae Chan-seung did well to hold the crisis, and in the bottom of the ninth with a one-run save situation, closer Kim Jae-yoon protected the victory with good pitching."
The bullpen's resilience that preserved a one-run game for Samsung. At its center was Bae Chan-seung's sense of responsibility to "stop it at all costs."
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