He dreamed of chasing after No. 1, but the reality was harsh. Now, the LG Twins are not chasing after each other but have to worry about a fall in fourth place.
The three-game series against the Kia Tigers, which started on Sunday, left only huge scars on LG even before the game ended. The closing pitcher collapsed and missed the game, but the team stopped the team’s left-handed pitcher who had yet to completely adapt to the KBO League. The team seemed to be recovering by scoring 17 points two days ago, but the team cooled down when it met KIA. Now it is not ranking second but ranking third, especially third, trailing fourth.안전놀이터
At the match against KIA at Jamsil on Tuesday, LG had not made significant changes in its lineup, which mainly focused on main players. Only the extent to which Song Chan-ui was placed in the starting lineup instead of Koo Bon-hyuk, who appears to be exhausted, has changed, but the six main left-handed hitters continued to play. KIA starter Eric Lauer had a hard time facing right-handed hitters in the Major League last year, and even though he gave up two home runs to right-handed hitters in the first game of the KBO League, LG firmly stuck to its path.
The result was Lauer’s victory in five innings, four hits, four walks, seven strikeouts and one run. Among LG’s left-handed hitters, only Kim Hyun-soo and Oh Ji-hwan each had a single hit. Moon made two big hits to center field, but both had bad luck catching them in front of the fence. The other left-handed hitters had a difficult game against Lauer.
The most outstanding player at LG on the day was Song Chan-ui, one of the few right-handed hitters who entered the starting lineup for the first time in a long time. Song Chan-ui showed performance in all at-bats with one hit, two walks and a sacrifice fly from four times at bat. It was a reversal of 36 million won in salary, which is the lowest among the players who started the game on the day.
As a leadoff hitter in the third inning, he had a hit to the left field before stealing second base, contributing to his first run. In the fourth inning, he drew a walk with runners on the first and second bases with two outs. In the sixth inning, when his team was losing the game by allowing nine runs in one inning, he added a walk with the ball count 0-2 with two outs. In the eighth inning, he had an RBI by making a sacrifice fly to the center field. It was Song’s first RBI in this season.
Song was called up to the first team on Wednesday. Until now, he had never received a chance to play in the first team. If the score gap had not widened significantly, he might not have played until the end of the game. At home, LG has always played games.
LG is still heavily dependent on its key players, with only 10 players who have played at least 300 times. Kim Bum-suk was the 11th player who played 155 times, while no player played more than 100 times. Opportunities are limited, but if no results are made, they often disappear soon.
While promising right-handed hitters left the team for reasons such as trade or enlistment, LG pinned its hope on the revival of key players, rather than finding new faces. Kim Bum-suk, a promising right-handed hitter who is still left, stirred controversy over his untimely diet, but disappeared from the first division as his batting sense declined. He could not afford to throw a right-handed hitter against Lauer on Wednesday.
In reality, Doosan ranks third with 31 games to go and a 6.0-game gap between the top and bottom. Doosan, which ranks fourth, has won three consecutive games, trailing LG by 1.5 games. The immediate ranking and the gap between the bottom and bottom teams may be small issues.