Perfect Agent [EN]: Chapter 191

191. The Real Start Begins Now (3)

It was the Buffaloes’ offensive inning, and Oh Seok-hoon stepped up to the plate.

Perhaps because he hadn’t managed a decent hit in today’s game, Oh Seok-hoon’s eyes burned with determination.

-With the Buffaloes’ offense completely stifled, it looks like Oh Seok-hoon needs to deliver a breakthrough.

-His hitting form doesn’t seem too bad. It’s just that Scott is in such great condition. It might be wise to persistently battle and drive up his pitch count, hoping to induce a mistake.

Michael Scott and the Jaguars infielders exchanged signals, anticipating a possible surprise bunt.

Then, Scott began his pitching motion.

Thwack!

“Strike!”

The first pitch zipped perfectly through the strike zone.

Thwack!

“Ball!”

Oh Seok-hoon managed to lay off a tempting pitch, but

Tick!

“Ah…….”

As soon as he made contact with the bat, Oh Seok-hoon, sensing a weak hit, tossed his bat aside in disappointment and started running towards first base.

The third baseman cleanly fielded the batted ball, adding another out to the count.

Oh Seok-hoon, who had been sprinting towards first base, saw the play unfold and swallowed his disappointment, tilting his head back in frustration.

Now, it was the cleanup hitter Park Sung-joo’s turn to step up to the plate.

-In games like this, where the opposing pitcher is on fire, it’s tough to string together consecutive hits, so it feels like a home run is what we need.

-We’ll have to see if Park Sung-joo can deliver that.

“Hoo-”

Park Sung-joo prepared to hit with even more focus than usual.

On the other hand, Scott’s pitching exuded confidence and ease.

Thwack!

“Strike!”

He boldly threw a strike, even against the powerful cleanup hitter.

Immediately, he fired off the second pitch.

As it appeared to be heading into the strike zone again, Park Sung-joo swung his bat with all his might.

Clang!

With a satisfying crack, the batted ball soared towards the outfield.

Feeling the sweet spot [the perfect point of contact on the bat], Park Sung-joo watched the ball’s trajectory and slowly began his run towards first base.

“Waaaaa-”

The Buffaloes fans, who had been yearning for a home run, rose to their feet for the first time in the game and cheered.

Simultaneously, center fielder Donald Watson, judging where the ball would land, turned and sprinted towards the fence.

-Park Sung-joo’s hit is carrying deep!

-Finally, the Buffaloes’ first score of the game…

Everyone anticipated a home run.

Watson, reaching the fence, timed his jump perfectly, extending his glove over the wall.

Watson’s glove snagged the ball, seemingly plucking it from over the fence.

After landing safely, he confidently raised his glove.

-Did Watson catch that ball?

-He caught it! He actually caught it! Is that even possible?

-That was a home run if he had just stood still. He flew and caught it!

-At this point, shouldn’t we say that Watson scored a point with his defense?

Park Sung-joo, rounding first base and heading towards second, stopped dead in his tracks, breaking into a dumbfounded, hollow laugh.

As second baseman Seo Sung-min approached, Park Sung-joo gestured towards Watson, as if saying it was unbelievable, raising both hands in disbelief.

“Waaaaaaaaaaaaa-”

“Watson! Watson! Watson!”

The Jaguars fans erupted in a tremendous roar that seemed to shake the stadium.

Even the disheartened Buffaloes fans couldn’t help but applaud Watson for his incredible defensive play.

Michael Scott, watching from the mound, took off his hat and raised it towards Watson, expressing his gratitude.

Scott’s pitching, fueled by his teammate’s outstanding defense, displayed an even greater surge of confidence.

He easily secured the remaining outs and ended the inning.

Even now, the Buffaloes players hadn’t reached first base even once.

As the game transitioned to the Jaguars’ offensive inning, Watson’s turn at bat came around again.

-Donald Watson is putting on an absolute clinic today! He’s amazing on both offense and defense. What a day he’s having!

-Moreover, he only needs a single to complete the cycle [hitting a single, double, triple, and home run in the same game]!

-I hope he bunts to get a hit.

-Could another incredible record be set in today’s game? This is a more crucial at-bat than ever.

Thwack!

“Ball!”

Thwack!

“Strike!”

Watson carefully selected pitches, continuing his battle with the pitcher.

When he sensed the desired pitch coming, Watson unleashed his swing.

Clang!

The batted ball shot towards the left fielder.

“Waaaaa-”

-Hit! Watson gets another hit and is having a 4-hit game.

-But the ball is carrying deep, so it doesn’t look like it will be a single.

-He needs to record a single to complete the cycle. Will Watson stop at first base?

Once again, Watson sprinted towards first base with everything he had.

The left fielder struggled with the fence, taking time to secure the ball.

In the meantime, Watson was able to round first base and head for second.

He arrived safely without needing to slide.

“Safe!”

-He hits a double here. He was just one single short.

-What would have happened if he had stopped at first base? Even if he hit a double, stopping at first would have counted as a single.

-Jaguars manager Kim Min-guk once said in an interview that if such a situation arose, he would have sent Watson straight to the minors [minor league baseball], no matter who he was.

-So, this is how a cycle hit can be missed.

-It seems like he’ll get another at-bat. We’ll have to wait a little longer.

Watson also seemed to have some regrets, a faint smile playing on his face.

The reactions of his teammates watching from the Jaguars dugout mirrored his sentiment.

After that, no subsequent hits were made, and Watson’s advancement didn’t translate into a score.

Bottom of the 7th inning.

The Buffaloes’ offense was underway.

-I’m hesitant to bring this up, but Michael Scott has been pitching a perfect game so far.

-Huh? Whenever that’s mentioned, the record often gets broken.

-Could it be… Did I really jinx it?

No sooner had he spoken than Oh Seok-hoon’s bat connected.

Clang!

The ball hit by Oh Seok-hoon flew high towards second baseman Seo Sung-min.

Seo Sung-min leaped and stretched out his hand as far as possible, but couldn’t reach the soaring ball.

-Hit! Finally, the Buffaloes’ first hit of the game.

-Oh no. I messed up. I shouldn’t have said anything.

-Even though he didn’t achieve a perfect game, it’s still amazing that he pitched over 6 innings without allowing a single baserunner against the Buffaloes, who have a powerful lineup.

Finally, a hit for the Buffaloes was marked on the scoreboard.

Scott also smiled slightly at the catcher, as if regretting the broken record.

But,

Thwack!

Whoosh-

He cleanly secured the remaining outs and finished the inning.

As the inning changed, Watson had another opportunity to step up to the plate.

Thwack!

“Strike out!”

Perhaps the pressure of the record weighed on him, and unfortunately, he failed to complete the cycle.

Already, the bottom of the 9th inning.

The score remained 2:0.

The Jaguars were still in the lead, but in baseball, that’s a score that can be overturned at any moment.

Michael Scott remained on the mound for the Jaguars.

-Michael Scott has taken the mound in the 9th inning.

-He’s already thrown 110 pitches, exceeding his average pitch count for the season, but he’s still out there in the 9th.

-It’s highly likely that Scott requested to pitch the entire game himself. Since Scott is in such dominant form today, there was no reason for the Jaguars coaching staff to refuse.

Thwack!

153km/h [approximately 95 mph]

Thwack!

154km/h [approximately 96 mph]

Thwack!

152km/h [approximately 94 mph]

-Scott seems to have fully transitioned into a complete starting pitcher. Even with over 110 pitches, his fastball speed isn’t dropping below 150km/h.

-Since he’s still a young player in his early 20s, he seems to be improving day by day as the season progresses.

Tick!

The batter struggled to foul off the fastball and tried to prolong the at-bat, but

Whoosh-

His bat could only swing helplessly at the ball that zoomed in at high speed and then suddenly dropped.

-In the end, he strikes out the batter with a 140km/h [approximately 87 mph] splitter.

-He’s recorded his 13th strikeout of the game. A new personal career high in the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization]!

He was fearless even in the final at-bat.

Whoosh-

“Strike out!”

-Strike out! Michael Scott gets all 27 outs needed in today’s game and completes his first shutout victory!

-It’s also his first since coming to Korea, and possibly the first in Scott’s entire career?

-These days, pitchers’ roles are so specialized that complete games and shutouts are rare. I want to thank both teams for giving us such a memorable game after so long.

The Jaguars players jumped and high-fived each other, celebrating their victory.

Donald Watson’s near-cycle performance and Michael Scott’s debut shutout victory.

Beyond the win itself, the way they achieved it was perfect.

The Jaguars fans in the stadium were jumping up and down, reveling in the joy of the day.

* * *

Watson, after his near-cycle performance, seemed to have completely regained his confidence.

Since that day, Watson’s hitting has been on fire.

He recorded hits in almost every game, with many games featuring multiple hits.

Unsurprisingly, many of those hits were extra-base hits, doubles or better.

As a result, his batting average had already surpassed .300, climbing to .310.

He was also climbing the leaderboards in RBIs [runs batted in], home runs, stolen bases, and slugging percentage.

It was hard to believe he was the same hitter who had a batting average in the .100s during the first month of the season.

Thanks to his performance, the Jaguars were not only holding steady in 4th place but also threatening 2nd and 3rd.

└Look at Watson’s batting average, it’s insane!

└Where are all the people who were telling us to get rid of Watson at the beginning of the season?

└Watson, I’m sorry. I didn’t know anything about baseball.

└The saying “form is temporary, class is permanent” seems to be true.

└He’s worth every penny of that million-dollar salary. What is the Jaguars general manager doing? They need to announce his re-signing for next season ASAP.

└Is he really going to the major leagues next year? If Watson leaves, our offense will be hopeless again.

└Then find your passport and burn it. Make it impossible for him to leave Korean soil.

└You can go to the major leagues later. Watson, please play one more season, please!

After that, Donald Watson’s cheer song echoed the loudest during Jaguars’ games.