The professional baseball KIA Tigers suffered an 2-8 comeback loss against the LG Twins at Jamsil Stadium on the 4th. Despite the coach's public message regarding their loose play, they allowed the game to flow away due to disappointing errors, resulting in a painful comeback loss.

Manager Lee Beom-ho sent a public "warning message" to the team before the LG game on the 4th. KIA sent down infielder Hong Jong-pyo to the second team and called up pitcher Kim Geon-guk to the first team.

Lee said about the roster changes, "We originally had 14 pitchers, but we called only 13. I was thinking about making a change when (Park) Chan-ho comes in tomorrow, but the performance yesterday was not very good. Everyone is trying hard during this tough time, and I wanted to talk to the players about that aspect too. I hoped that in difficult times, we could all help each other and work hard together, but seeing that we weren’t able to do that made me decide to make a change."

It appeared that Hong Jong-pyo did not show urgency or determination in his play during the previous day's (3rd) game against Samsung in Gwangju. It was a punitive move to send him to the second team. Hong Jong-pyo has participated in 7 games this season, recording a batting average of .071 (1 hit in 14 at-bats) with 2 runs.

KIA started with Lee Woo-sung (left fielder), Wisdom (first baseman), Na Sung-bum (right fielder), Choi Hyung-woo (designated hitter), Byun Woo-hyuk (third baseman), Han Jun-soo (catcher), Choi Won-jun (center fielder), Kim Gyu-seong (shortstop), and Seo Geon-chang (second baseman).

In the top of the first inning, they took the lead by scoring 2 runs against starting pitcher Song Seung-ki. Lee Woo-sung, making his debut as a lead-off hitter, reached base with a single to right. After one out, Na Sung-bum got on base with a walk. Choi Hyung-woo's ground ball to first base resulted in two outs, putting runners on second and third. Byun Woo-hyuk, who led the team to victory the previous day with 3 RBIs, hit a timely single to left, making the score 2-0. They seized the momentum and seemed to continue their 8-game winning streak against LG from last year.

However, they soon lost the momentum in the bottom of the first inning due to an error-prone play. Defensives errors continued. Starting pitcher Yang Hyun-jong allowed a walk to Austin, who had hit home runs in the previous four games, after recording two outs.

The ball hit by Moon Bo-kyung flew over the center fielder's head. Choi Won-jun seemed to catch it, but it hit his glove and bounced off behind him, allowing runner Austin to score. Although the ball seemed to go far, it was one that a center fielder should have caught. It was recorded as a 2-RBI double.

There was also a mistake in the relay play. The shortstop received the throw from the center fielder and attempted to throw home, but the catcher dropped the ball. After getting a double, Moon Bo-kyung attempted to reach home but was caught between second and third base, almost getting caught in a rundown. However, the catcher dropped the ball while trying to recover it, allowing Moon Bo-kyung to advance to third base. This also was not recorded as an error.

With two outs and a runner on third, Kim Hyun-soo hit a timely single up the middle, making it 2-2. If Choi Won-jun had caught the ball, they wouldn’t have allowed a single run. They could have limited it to one run if there hadn’t been mistakes in the relay play. It contrasted sharply with LG’s solid defense, which supported its pitchers during the crisis.

At the end of the first inning, it was a 2-2 tie, but the momentum shifted slightly toward LG. KIA did not manage to score at critical moments, with opportunities arising in the 2nd (2 outs, runners on 1st and 2nd), 3rd (1 out, runners on 1st and 2nd), 4th (2 outs, runners on 1st and 2nd), 6th (2 outs, runners on 1st and 2nd), and 7th inning (no outs, runner on 2nd). In the 7th inning, they trailed 2-4 and relief pitcher Lee Jun-young issued three walks, leading to a bases-loaded crisis and surrendering 4 runs, darkening their prospects.

orange@osen.co.kr

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