The national hitter, who ranked fifth last year and was booed even after entering the fall baseball league for the first time in two years, will challenge for the third place for the first time in his career with the support of his fans.메이저놀이터
The Doosan Bears of professional baseball will play three consecutive games against the “Jamsil Rival” LG Twins at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul from the 20th to the 22nd.
While the two teams have played 137 games together, Doosan is ranked fourth with 69 wins, two draws and 66 losses for this season, while LG is ranked third with 71 wins, two draws and 64 losses for this season. There are only two games to win, and LG has a narrow seven wins and six losses against each other in this season.
The two teams are also gaining momentum in recent days. Doosan won the game against the Jamsil KIA Tigers on the previous day and won the fourth straight game in 104 days since the game against the Jamsil KIA on June 7, while LG Electronics ended the three consecutive games of Sajik Lotte Giants with two wins and one loss and a winning series. Amid the upturn, Doosan and LG are set to stage what they call the “fate for third place.”
LG still has the advantage. As long as it does not lose three consecutive games, it can keep its third place. If the team sweeps the series, it can secure its third place, and if it wins and loses two games, it can widen its gap versus Doosan to three games, and if it records one win and two losses, it can maintain one game gap. Both LG and Doosan need to collect two wins and one loss to reach their goal closely.
“Kwak Bin, Kim Min-kyu and Jordan Balazovic will start one after the other from the 20th,” Doosan manager Lee Seung-yeop said before the match against KIA in Jamsil on the previous day. Doosan’s 13-win ace Kwak Bin and foreign pitcher Balazovic’s one-two punch are joined by Kim Min-kyu, who has plenty of experience as a substitute starter. Kim Min-kyu’s ERA in the Futures League is 1.51, which is quite stable.
His commitment to play in the games was also extraordinary. “From now on, determination and importance of winning every game are different from ordinary regular season games. Rather than thinking about tomorrow, I will focus on today and play games with a strong mindset of winning every day,” Lee said.
Last year, the first year of Lee’s inauguration, Doosan lost to LG by posting five wins and 11 losses. This year, however, Doosan has been in a tight race of six wins and seven losses throughout the season, displaying equal play as rivals.
“As far as I know, Hernandez, Son Joo-young, and Ence will also come out in order,” Lee said. “I heard that we are playing better against LG than last year, and if it rains tomorrow (20th), the temperature will be lowered. Then the players’ performance will get better. From veterans to young players, they are all motivated.”
Veteran players in the team are also gathering their teams ahead of the battle for the third place. “I think this three-game series will be the most important. It’s a three-game series that will decide whether we go higher or lower,” Kim Jae-ho, 39, said on Sunday. “Both teams have to do their best. However, I hope that all the players don’t feel pressured and just think it’s not the end as they did during the season.”
Doosan, which was booed even after returning to the postseason stage for the first time in two years by ranking fifth last year, is drawing keen attention as to whether Doosan will be able to turn its booing into applause by winning a ticket to directly advance to the semi-playoff this year. Doosan desperately needs to win in the weekend’s rivalry game more than ever.