In his first at-bat, he produced several quality pitches, but they went straight to the fence. In his second at-bat in the fourth inning, he hit a line drive to left-center 안전놀이터 field that was caught by KIA center fielder Socrates Brito. In his third at-bat, he drew a walk, but was unable to break his 43-game hitting streak.
Noh Si-hwan, however, broke the streak in his 44th at-bat. In the ninth inning, he hit a solo shot to left field. He pulled a 140-kilometer fastball high in the middle of Jung’s fourth pitch over the left field fence. It traveled 120 meters and was his ninth home run of the season.
“Noh’s home run is the biggest takeaway from yesterday’s game,” Choi Won-ho said ahead of the 25th game. “His batting average was 0.289 even though his batting pace hasn’t been good so far, so it’s proof that he’s been doing very well. Hitting has a cycle, so when you go down, it’s important to shorten the duration. That’s the trick,” he laughed.
Noh Si-hwan, who must have suffered more than anyone, also smiled. “I wasn’t too conscious of the no-hit record, but it’s nice to get a hit,” he said, adding, “It made me more excited rather than intimidated. I played the game with the mindset of ‘let’s see who wins’.” His teammates were also happy.
His teammates were also happy. “I didn’t talk to my teammates until then. When I hit a home run, everyone came up to me and talked to me. They were happy that they could finally talk to me,” he laughs.