The NC Dinos’ second pitcher Lee Jae-hak, who was doing well on the mound, was hit by a pitch, and the NC bench went into a state of emergency.
Left-handed pitcher Kim Young-kyu (23), who came on in relief with the bases loaded in the top of the fifth inning with the score 7-6, tied the game with a single hit, but with two pitches, he got Lee to fly out to center field to end the threat in an instant.
Kim Young-gyu, the team’s third pitcher in the third game of the semifinals against SSG Landers at Changwon NC Park on April 25, pitched a scoreless fifth and sixth innings to earn his second hold of the series.
In the sixth, he walked Choo Shin-soo and Guillermo Heredia before getting Choi Jung to fly out to center field.
He pitched 1 1/3 innings and did not allow a hit, walked one and struck out one to end the threat.
Kim Young-gyu pitched the final inning to close out the game, and NC defeated SSG 7-6 to end the best-of-three series early.
In the series, only Game 1 starter Shin Min-hyuk did his job with 5⅔ scoreless innings, while Game 2 starter Song Myung-ki (2 runs in 3 innings) and Game 3 starter Tanner Tully (5 runs in 2 innings) left the mound early.
With the bullpen overloaded, Kim Young-gyu pitched both Game 1 and Game 3 to preserve the win.
In Game 1, he relieved Shin Min-hyuk in the sixth inning and pitched 1⅓ scoreless innings to earn the win, and in Game 2, he was the team’s fourth pitcher in the sixth inning and pitched 1 inning of scoreless relief to secure the win.
He was equally effective on the mound in the series-clinching Game 3.
Including the wild-card game against the Doosan Bears, Kim has pitched in all four of the team’s games in fall baseball this year, going 2-2 with a 0.00 ERA.
After throwing a complete game shutout as a starter in 2019, his first year on the first team, Young-gyu split time between the mound and the bullpen before moving to the bullpen entirely last year.
It changed his baseball life forever.
After finishing last year with a 2-7 record, one save, and a 3.41 ERA in 13 appearances, he finished this year’s regular season with a 2-4 record and a 3.06 ERA in 24 appearances.
This earned him a spot on the national team for the Hangzhou Asian Games, where he won a gold medal.
With the big game experience he gained in Hangzhou, Kim is looking to continue his success in fall baseball.
His eyes will now turn to Suwon, where the KT Wiz will be waiting for him in the Playoffs (PO). 슬롯