Samsung escaped its eighth consecutive loss with a 7-4 victory in Game 2 of the season against the KIA Tigers of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League at Gwangju-KIA Champions Field on the 6th. Kim Jae-hyuk started as the sixth batter and left fielder, scoring two hits, one RBI, one walk, and one run from four times at bat. Kim’s multi-hit game is the first in 720 days since the game against SSG Landers on April 17, 2022. 스포츠토토

Samsung won the game by scoring three runs in the top of the ninth inning, including Kim Heon-gon’s timely RBI, but Kim Jae-hyuk took a large part in the process until the middle of the game.

Before the game, Samsung changed its entry into the first division. As Oh Jae-il, who had been struggling with a batting average of 0.167 in 11 games since the season opened, went down to the second division, outfielder Kim Jae-hyuk was called up to the first division. Kim Jae-hyuk is a promising fielder who joined Samsung in the second round as the 13th pick in the 2022 after graduating from Jejudo-Donga University, and he was one of the players Samsung had shown keen interest in.

Kim Jae-hyuk, who joined the opening entry, got another chance after being removed from the first-team entry on April 27, and was listed in the lineup on the day of the call-up. Before the game, coach Park Jin-man said, “Today (Yoon Young-cheol) and tomorrow (Yang Hyun-jong) will have left-handed pitchers as starters in the opposing team. Since there are not many right-handed hitters in the team, I hope young players will perform vigorously.”

Kim Jae-hyuk bullied his opponent from the first at-bat. He took the game against KIA starter Yoon Young-chul for the 10th pitch, and walked to first base as he picked out a cutter for the 10th pitch. However, he failed to score a point due to an unsuccessful follow-up hit.

Kim even had his first hit of the season in his second at-bat. In the top of the third inning, with two outs and a runner on first base, he hit a two-pitch cutter off Yoon, and sent first baseman Kim Young-woong to third base.

Kim continued the trend in defense as well. In the bottom of the third inning, he ran near the fence with one out, and pulled out Kim Do-young’s long hit. Park Chan-ho, the first baseman, quickly returned to first base, and was satisfied with catching one out count, but all fans couldn’t hide their surprise at Kim’s defense.

Kim Jae-hyuk, who boosted his confidence, completed a multi-hit in his third at-bat in the top of the fifth inning when his team was losing 2-3. Kim, who faced Yoon Young-chul with two outs and runners on second base, pulled the curveball on the sixth pitch with two balls and two strikes to make an RBI double over the left field.

Kim Jae-hyuk failed to get on base with a fly ball and a ground ball in the next two at-bats, but he perfectly lived up to the expectations of the head coach. If Kim Jae-hyuk did not do his part until the middle of the game, Samsung had no choice but to solve the game with difficulty.

After the game, Kim Jae-hyuk said, “When I was in the first team, I had a lot of pressure to do well. I had a lot of time to think to myself, putting down my urgent mind. I don’t dwell too much on the result, but I want to let go of my obsession, and I think it led to a good result.”

Regarding the defense at the end of the third inning, he explained the situation at the time, saying, “I ran with center fielder Kim Ji-chan and called first because I thought it was a ball that I could catch, and Kim Ji-chan listened to the call and bowed down right away.”

Kim Jae-hyuk is also likely to start against Yang on Tuesday. “I’m so happy that my team won and I can stop losing consecutive games. I will do my best to make our fans happier and not give up on the ground,” Kim said.