Korean professional baseball team LG Twins is facing its first sweep loss of the season. LG will play the final game of a three-game weekend series against the Samsung Lions at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on the 1st.
LG lost to Samsung 3-4 on the 30th. On the 31st, it lost 2-4. If it loses on the 1st, it will be the first sweep loss of the three-game series. This season, LG has not experienced any sweep losses.
LG's Hernandez, who returned from injury, pitched 6 innings, allowing 1 run, in the game against Samsung on the 30th. However, on the 7th inning, tied 1-1, Lee Woo-chan came in as a relief pitcher and allowed the lead-off hitter to walk. Following that, an unexpected bunt single put LG in a no-outs, 1st and 2nd base crisis.
LG replaced the pitcher with Baek Seung-hyeon, but Baek also allowed the first batter to walk and permitted a run on a sacrifice fly. Baek prevented additional runs but allowed a walk to the lead-off batter in the 8th, while LG was behind 1-2, and was replaced by Sung Dong-hyun.
Sung Dong-hyun allowed the first batter to walk, leading to a no-outs situation with 1st and 2nd base occupied. Although he recorded 2 outs with a sacrifice bunt and a pop-up, another walk led to a two-outs bases loaded crisis, and ultimately LG gave up a two-run timely hit, widening the score to 1-4.
In the bottom of the 9th, LG capitalized on an error by their opponent to create an opportunity with 1 out and the bases loaded, closing the gap to 3-4 with a two-run timely hit by Shin Min-jae, but ultimately suffered a one-run loss. The consecutive walks and runs allowed by the relief pitchers were disappointing.
In the 7th inning, tied at 1-1, the team deployed a secondary relief unit instead of its strong pitchers. There were difficulties in managing the bullpen. Kim Young-woo and Lee Ji-kang were unable to pitch as they had back-to-back appearances on the 28th and 29th against Hanwha. LG is trying to avoid having its relief pitchers pitch in three consecutive games. It was difficult to use key pitchers Kim Jin-sung and Park Myeong-geun from the 7th inning onwards. Although the hope was to have them pitch in the 8th and 9th, the strategy did not go as planned due to runs allowed in the 7th.
In the game against Samsung on the 31st, starting pitcher Chirinoss struggled, allowing 4 runs in 6 innings. Down 2-4 in the 7th, Lee Ji-kang came in as the second pitcher and retired the side in order for 1 inning. In the 8th, the strong pitcher Kim Jin-sung also appeared, maintaining a scoreless inning. However, despite deploying the strong pitchers, the batting lineup failed to exploit the Samsung bullpen, resulting in a 2-4 loss.
On the 1st, Im Chan-kyu will start for LG against Samsung. This season, he has appeared in 11 games, achieving 8 wins and 1 loss with an earned run average of 2.43. He became the winning pitcher on the 27th against Hanwha, allowing only 1 run in 7 innings. He ranks tied for first in wins and fifth in earned run average. Attention is on whether Im Chan-kyu can prevent LG's sweep loss. Both strong pitchers Kim Jin-sung and Park Myeong-geun are available behind him.
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