Villain On The Mound [EN]: Chapter 171

The Athletics players were amazed.

‘How can he do that?’

‘He silenced the booing crowd with his skill alone.’

‘Is he really only 21 years old?’

‘It’s not just his skill, but what guts!’

It couldn’t be explained by skill alone.

It was an act possible only with a boldness that surpassed that.

‘A pitcher is doing that much…….’

‘A guy younger than me is doing that. What am I doing?’

‘It’s just booing at best. It’s not like we’ve ever played a game with cheers on the road.’

‘Even if they curse, they’re not going to harm me.’

A change occurred among the players.

The change was the result of Ha-sung’s actions.

Such a change was soon revealed in the game.

Tap-!!

“Foul!!”

[It’s a foul! Lead-off hitter Ellis is putting up a tenacious fight!]

[He’s created a full count, dragging it to a 9-pitch battle from two strikes. Very good concentration.]

Although the count was unfavorable, he didn’t lose his concentration.

Red Sox fans booed Ellis for that.

“Woooo-!!”

“Is barely touching it a swing?!”

“Just go down if that’s all you’re going to do!”

“Lester! What are you doing, not getting even one of those guys out?!”

The arrows of blame were also directed at the Red Sox ace, Jon Lester.

It was an absurd experience from Jon Lester’s perspective.

‘What? Why are they yelling at me?’

He hadn’t done anything wrong.

It was just that the hitter, Ellis, had good concentration and was cutting off the breaking balls.

To blame him for this?

‘Damn……. This is the first time for this kind of atmosphere.’

Even experienced players couldn’t adapt to the booing of the home fans.

But Jon Lester didn’t waver.

He showed his best skills and threw the decisive pitch.

“Hmph-!!”

[He threw 10 pitches!]

The ball that left his hand darted toward Ellis’s body.

Ellis, with his high concentration, didn’t miss the ball and turned his bat.

At that moment.

Whoosh!

The trajectory of the ball changed, moving towards the handle of the bat.

Crack!!

The sound of the bat breaking was heard, and the impact was transmitted to his hand.

But Ellis didn’t let go and took his swing to the very end.

“Heave!!”

[He hit it! A hit with a broken bat! But right in front of the third baseman!]

The third baseman caught the batted ball cleanly.

It was a play that would typically result in an out.

But Ellis sprinted to first base, giving his best effort to the very end.

However, it was unlikely for an error to occur in the major leagues, especially on a big stage like the Championship Series.

Thwack!

“Out!!”

The ball arrived first, and the first base umpire declared him out.

But Ellis’s full sprint drew admiration from the viewers.

[Ellis is sprinting to the end without giving up.]

[It was a very impressive scene.]

[You never know what will happen until the ball arrives in baseball. Of course, you have to sprint like that.]

Ellis’s full sprint showcased the mindset of the current Athletics players.

The players were burning with a desire to win.

It was Ha-sung’s performance that ignited that desire.

Whether he knew it or not, Ha-sung was drinking a beverage and preparing for the next inning.

* * *

It was an overwhelming home-field advantage.

“Wooooooo-!!”

“Jung Ha-sung, get lost!!”

“Try raising your finger one more time!!”

The Red Sox fans’ tremendous booing.

But Ha-sung lightly ignored such booing and was handling the Red Sox hitters.

Thwack-!

“Strike! Batter out!!”

[It’s a strikeout! Jung Ha-sung records his 4th strikeout of the game today! And he brings his index finger to his mouth again as he leaves the mound!]

[The Red Sox fans’ booing is more severe than usual today.]

[I wonder if they were always such passionate fans.]

[It feels like watching a Philadelphia Phillies game.]

If you were to pick the place with the most passionate fans in Major League Baseball, many people would pick Philadelphia.

The Philadelphia Phillies fans had an extraordinary love for their team, to the point where they were called the Phili-gans [a portmanteau of Phillies and hooligans, highlighting their intense fandom].

[The Phillies fans are famous for sending tremendous boos even to Phillies players if they don’t play the game properly.]

[That’s right. Today, the Red Sox seem to be showing such a Phillies look.]

That’s how intense the Red Sox fans’ booing was today.

Was it because of the fans’ enthusiasm?

The Red Sox players also played the game with higher concentration than usual.

Tap-!!

[Arnold hit it! A well-hit ball looks like it will split the left-center field!]

A well-hit ball came out.

The speed and course were all perfect.

It was a ball that could easily reach extra bases if it landed.

At that time, the center fielder came running and dove.

Thwack!

Whish-!!

The center fielder caught the ball in a diving catch and raised his glove.

[He caught it!! An amazing Superman catch!]

[It was a good hit, but it was caught by an amazing defense.]

[The concentration of both teams’ players is great.]

As the concentration improved, fine plays were coming out one after another.

As a result, the two teams dragged the game to a 0-0 score through the 6th inning without scoring any significant points.

[The Championship Series Game 4 is already heading to the middle innings.]

[The two teams are showing a high level of play, and there are still no scores.]

[Jung Ha-sung is silencing the Red Sox lineup with his outstanding pitching, while the Red Sox are preventing runs with a combination of mound presence and defense.]

[In the end, the mound is expected to be the deciding factor.]

[Jon Lester has thrown 82 pitches through the 5th inning, while Jung Ha-sung still has 72 pitches, so he has room to spare.]

[The possibility that the 7th inning will be a turning point is increasing.]

Because it is the Championship Series, the pitcher can be replaced quickly.

But because he is an ace, there was a high possibility that he would continue pitching up to the average number of pitches, which is around 100.

Thwack-!

“Strike! Batter out!!”

[It’s a strikeout! Jon Lester’s slider catches the edge of the plate for a strikeout!]

[Jon Lester’s pitching is really great. It’s amazing that he recorded 6 innings without giving up a run.]

[But as the number of pitches increased to 105, the possibility of not being able to pitch in the 7th inning increased.]

Lester, who recorded no runs, did his part.

Recording 6 innings without giving up a run on the big stage of the Championship Series was a great help to the team.

If the opponent today was not Jung Ha-sung, his pitching would have received more attention.

[In the bottom of the 6th inning, Jung Ha-sung goes to the mound to shut down the Red Sox lineup.]

[The players are showing good performances overall today, but the most outstanding player is still Jung Ha-sung.]

[While recording 15 out counts through the 5th inning, he is recording 8 strikeouts, showing the form of a K-machine [strikeout machine] in today’s game as well.]

[In particular, the performance of quietly frustrating the Red Sox fans is a masterpiece.]

The Red Sox fans’ booing poured out at Ha-sung’s appearance.

But the intensity was much weaker than at first.

The reason was simple.

‘What kind of guy is that?’

‘We’re sending boos like this. He doesn’t even care.’

‘Damn……. Is that guy even human?’

It was simple for the fans to send boos.

It was with the hope that the player would waver.

But Ha-sung, far from wavering, threw an even more intense ball every time boos poured out.

‘You guys talk. I’m going my way.’

Ha-sung had already heard enough booing to be sick of it.

In addition, his mentality was strangely strong in this life.

Thanks to that, he was able to throw his ball while ignoring the booing.

“Play ball!!”

[The bottom of the 6th inning begins with the umpire’s shout.]

Ha-sung lowered his upper body and exchanged signs with Trevor.

[Jung Ha-sung is varying the location of the ball effectively from the middle of the game.]

[The hitters’ heads will be spinning, wondering what kind of ball will come next.]

As the commentators said, Ha-sung handled the hitters with various balls.

Tap-!!

“Foul!!”

[A batted ball hit off the first-pitch slider goes foul!]

[Jung Ha-sung throws two types of sliders. One is a traditional slider with a large break, and the other is a high-speed slider that exceeds 90 miles per hour that he just threw.]

[It draws a trajectory similar to a cutter, but the change in the high-speed slider is greater, making the hitters’ heads spin.]

Ha-sung, who caught a strike with the first ball, threw the 2nd ball.

[He throws the 2nd ball!]

“Hmph!!”

Whizz-!!

The hitter’s bat swung early.

But the ball seemed to stop in the air and went into the mitt only after the hitter’s bat had swung all the way.

Whoosh!

Thwack!

“Swing! Strike two!!”

[The hitter swings and misses at the changeup!]

[It was a perfect change of pace. The hitter was waiting for a fastball, but he was instead induced to swing by throwing the slowest ball he had!]

[It’s a very crafty location!]

[He catches the second strike and gets into a favorable count with no balls and two strikes.]

Ha-sung, who caught a favorable count, threw a bait ball on the 3rd ball.

Thwack!

“Ball!!”

[The hitter flinched at the ball leaving the zone, but the bat didn’t swing.]

[It was a good bait ball.]

Ha-sung exchanged signs with Trevor from one ball and two strikes.

‘Shall we go with the finisher?’

‘Let’s go with this one more time.’

Trevor, who nodded at Ha-sung’s sign, held out his mitt.

“Hoo…….”

Ha-sung, who went into a windup with a deep breath, threw the 4th ball with a shout.

“Heave!!”

Whizz-!!

The ball that left his hand flew at a fierce speed.

The hitter also swung his bat fiercely as if he had been waiting.

Whoosh-!

The moment the trajectory of the bat and the ball were about to become one.

The ball didn’t drop and passed over the bat as it was.

Thwack-!!

“Swing! Strike out!!”

[It’s a strikeout! Jung Ha-sung induces a swing from the hitter with a 103-mile high fastball!]

[The hitter’s bat had no choice but to come out because the ball and the hitter’s eyes were so close!]

Ha-sung, who caught the first out count with 4 balls, easily handled the subsequent hitters in succession.

Tap-!!

[He hit it on the 2nd ball! But right in front of the second baseman! The second baseman catches it and goes straight to first base!]

Thwack!

“Out!!”

[It’s out! The number of balls needed to catch two out counts is only 6!]

[What’s really outstanding about Jung Ha-sung is this. He’s catching out counts easily. Even against Major League hitters.]

Catching the top Major League hitters is not an easy task.

But Ha-sung was doing it.

Even on the stage of the Championship Series.

Baseball fans had no choice but to be astonished at such a performance from Ha-sung.

-Jung Ha-sung’s level seems to have surpassed the Major League.

-I agree.

-No, how can he pitch like that in the Championship Series?

-It’s like watching a truly legendary pitcher.

-The Red Sox hitters’ condition is not bad either.

-That’s what I’m saying.

-It’s not for nothing that they say you get 1 win for free when Jung Ha-sung comes out.

-Is it real that the Athletics can’t score even 1 point even after having this legendary pitcher ㅋㅋ

-That’s Oakland for you.

As Ha-sung’s good pitching shines, the Athletics’ lineup is drawing frustration.

This is because the score was still 0 to 0.

Thwack-!

“Strike! Batter out!!”

[It’s a strikeout! Jung Ha-sung finishes the 6th inning while catching his 10th strikeout of the game today!]

[Jung Ha-sung, whose number of pitches is now 82, will likely come out in the 7th inning as well.]

Ha-sung still had energy to spare.

But it wasn’t the same for the Red Sox’s Jon Lester.

[The Red Sox bullpen is warming up!]

The game was reaching a turning point.