‘Goalkeeper’ Yoo Kang-nam, who asked for a one-ball. Blocked 9 times, but couldn’t stop the 10th ball

[Busan=Sports Chosun Reporter Kwon In-ha] I had to keep flying to catch the ball, bounce it with my body, and drop it in front of me. As if watching a goalie, Lotte Giants catcher Yoo Kang-nam tried his best to keep the ball from falling backward.

Lotte was down 1-2 in the home game against KT Wiz at Busan Sajik Stadium on April 7, but rookie Kim Min-seok’s dramatic RBI single tied the game at 2-2 and forced the game into extra innings, but the Giants gave up the winning run in the top of the 10th inning on Kim Do-gyu’s futile blast and lost 2-3. Lotte had been in the lead for two months without losing three straight games since April 4 against SSG and April 8 against KT, but the loss was their second three-game losing streak of the season in 60 days. They are now four games behind first-place SSG and 2.5 games behind second-place LG.

However, LOTTE catcher Yoo Kang-nam’s single-handed blocking was amazing. In the 9th and 10th innings, he showed tremendous determination to stop any ball.

After tying the game at 2-2, Kim Won-joong came up in the top of the ninth. His main weapon is a forkball, so he gets a lot of ground balls. Hwang Jae-gyun batted first with two outs. After blocking the first pitch, Yoo Kang-nam tried to prevent the runners from scoring free runs by blocking the third and fourth pitches in a row. He told Kim Won-joong that it was okay and to keep throwing the ball confidently.

It became a ball at 3B1S and runners were on first and third. The battle with Kim Min-hyuk at second was also a battle of forked balls, followed by a 토토사이트 determined block by Yoo Kang-nam. After the first pitch was a fastball, the second pitch was a forkball. Kim Min-hyuk’s bat spun on the ball that went out of bounds. In the third pitch, Yoo Kang-nam made a good block on another one-bound forkball. After a foul on the fourth pitch, the fifth pitch was a fastball, but it came too low and went into Yoo’s mitt. Hwang Jae-gyun, the runner at first, threw to second for the out. On a full count, the sixth pitch was a forkball. Kim Min-hyuk swung at a pitch that was almost on the ground, and Yoo Kang-nam made a solid catch for the third out.

In the top of the 10th, Lotte’s Kim Do-gyu took the mound, and after a leadoff double by Moon Sang-chul and a sacrifice bunt by Lee Sang-ho, he faced Jang Jang-woo with runners on first and third.

He fouled off the first and second pitches, both fastballs. With a favorable count of 2S, Lotte again tried to get Jang Jang-woo with a changeup.

The third pitch, a forked ball, was hit into the outfield. Yoo Kang-nam made a good block. The fourth pitch was a slider, but Kim Do-gyu was nervous and the slider curved to the side. Yoo stretched out his arm in a dynamic move and caught the ball. It was a dangerous situation where the ball almost fell out.

The fifth pitch in the 2B2S was a fastball vargmal.org. Jang Jang-woo made a bold move toward the plate, but it was too close to his body and the umpire’s hand didn’t go up.

With a full count, he chose a slider again. This time, however, the slider curved sideways more than the fourth pitch. The ball went to the backward point where Yoo Kang-nam couldn’t catch it even if he tried. The ball traveled all the way to the backstop, where Moon Sang-chul, the third baseman, came home to make it 2-3.

Yoo Kang-nam had caught a lot of ground balls with his body, but there was no way he could stop a ball that didn’t come around him.

Despite the loss, Lotte Mound has definitely stabilized since the arrival of free agent Yoo Kang-nam. It’s definitely a positive that LOTTE pitchers can now put the forked ball on the ground with confidence, especially with Hon-shin’s blocking.