Samsung Lions’ New Star: Jang Chan-hee’s First Win & Yang Woo-hyun’s Debut Home Run!

▲ Manager Park Jin-man high-fiving ⓒ Samsung Lions

[SPOTV News=Changwon, Reporter Choi Won-young] It was a day worth celebrating.

The Samsung Lions escaped with a 4-3 win over the NC Dinos at Changwon NC Park on the 8th, pushing their streak to five straight victories.

Park’s starting lineup read: Kim Seong-yun (RF) – Gu Ja-wook (LF) – Choi Hyung-woo (DH) – Lewin Diaz (1B) – Park Seung-gyu (CF) – Jeon Byung-woo (3B) – Yang Woo-hyun (2B) – Park Se-hyuk (C) – Park Gye-beom (SS). Regular second baseman Ryu Ji-hyeok was absent after experiencing a side issue in the May 7 game. Rookie Jang Chan-hee drew the start on the mound.

Jang delivered a strong outing: six innings, four hits, three walks, two strikeouts and one earned run on a 94-pitch night. He mixed a four-seam fastball (37), slider (32), forkball (23) and two-seam (2), peaking at 147 km/h (91.3 mph).

He turned in his first career quality start (six-plus innings, three or fewer earned runs) and picked up his first win as a starter — his third victory of the season.

▲ Jang Chan-hee ⓒ Samsung Lions

In relief, Miyaji Yura allowed two runs in 2/3 of an inning, Lee Seung-min worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings and Kim Jae-yoon closed with a scoreless ninth. Lee earned a hold; Kim recorded the save.

Kim was dominant in the ninth, striking out the side to cap off a strong performance — and in the process became just the sixth pitcher in league history to reach 200 career saves.

Offensively, Gu went 2-for-5 with a homer and an RBI; Jeon was 2-for-4 with an RBI; Yang finished 1-for-3 with a homer and two RBIs; and Kim Seong-yun was 2-for-5. Yang’s long ball was his first since debuting in 2019 and proved to be the decisive blow.

Samsung took the lead in the top of the second when Yang blasted a solo shot. He hammered NC starter Mok Ji-hoon’s second pitch — a 143 km/h (88.9 mph) fastball — 120 meters (394 ft) to right-center.

▲ Yang Woo-hyun ⓒ Samsung Lions

The Lions extended the lead in the fifth. With one out and nobody on, Gu crushed Mok’s second pitch, a 132 km/h (82.0 mph) forkball, 110 meters (361 ft) over the left-field wall to make it 2-0.

Choi drew a walk and Diaz followed with a single, prompting NC to go to the bullpen for Lee Jun-hyeok. Park Seung-gyu hit a grounder to the mound and Lee’s throw to second was off-target, loading the bases. Jeon then drove in a run with a single to left, and Yang added an RBI sacrifice fly to right, pushing the score to 4-0.

NC chipped away, scoring once in the sixth and twice in the seventh to make it 4-3. But Lee Seung-min, who entered in the seventh, retired the side in order in the eighth and Kim Jae-yoon closed out the ninth to secure the win.

▲ Kim Jae-yoon ⓒ Kwak Hye-mi (photographer)

The game’s turning point came in the bottom of the seventh with two outs and runners on second and third. During Park Geon-woo’s plate appearance, Lee Seung-min uncorked a wild pitch that sent NC’s runner on third, Oh Tae-yang, darting for the plate. Oh hesitated and tried to retreat to third, but catcher Park Se-hyuk fired to third and tagged Oh out to end the inning. The play erased NC’s rally and preserved the lead.

After the game, Park Jin-man applauded the milestones. “Huge congrats to Jang on his first win as a starter, to Yang on his first homer, and to Kim on 200 saves,” Park said. “Jang had a rough patch early but battled through it and showed the rookie grit and confidence we like. We had a scare in the seventh, but Park Se-hyuk’s heads-up play behind the plate got us out of it.”

Park also credited the offense and defense: “Yang and Gu’s homers and Jeon’s RBI helped, and our fielders were steady all game. We appreciate the fans who came out. We’ll be ready for another strong effort tomorrow (May 9) against NC.”

▲ Park Se-hyuk ⓒ Samsung Lions