After dropping two straight series, the LG Twins have rebounded with three straight wins. The Samsung Lions collapsed amid crucial defensive errors, but the LG Twins held on for a split victory.
LG pulled off a 3-2 comeback win against the Samsung Lions in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on Thursday.
Samsung’s batting order was Kim Ji-chan (second base), Kim Hyun-joon (centre field), Jose Pirela (left field), Kang Min-ho (catcher), Kim Dong-yup (designated hitter), Lee Jae-hyun (shortstop), Kim Ho-jae (first base), Ryu Seung-min (right field), and Kim Young-woong (third base). LG’s line-up was Hong Chang-ki (centre fielder), Moon Sung-joo (right fielder), Kim Hyun-soo (designated hitter), Austin Dean (first baseman), Park Dong-won (catcher), Oh Ji-hwan (shortstop), Moon Bo-kyung (third baseman), Lee Jae-won (left fielder) and Shin Min-jae (second baseman). The starting pitchers were Samsung’s David Buchanan and LG’s Lee Sang-young.
It was a heavily favoured start for Samsung, but Lee Sang-young pitched well until the second inning. After giving up a leadoff single to Kim Ji-chan in the first and a double to Kang Min-ho in the second, he settled down to retire the next two batters.
In the third inning, he ran into trouble. He walked leadoff hitter Ryu Seung-min with a pitch to the body and then put runners in scoring position with a sacrifice bunt by Samsung. After walking Kim Ji-chan, Lee Sang-young put runners on second and third with a double off Pirela. It was a bad start for Pirela, considering he was the opposing starter.
Samsung Buchanan down on his luck, but an ace is still an ace
Buchanan returned to the mound in good spirits after the run support. It looked like he was going to have an easy game, but the rain didn’t help. The first batter of the third inning, Lee Jae-won, was hit by a single up the middle, and then a routine bunt was thrown to second base by third baseman Kim Young-woong, who fumbled and couldn’t make the catch. It was recorded as a fielder’s choice, but it was actually an error.
Hong Chang-ki followed with a single, but Buchanan made a quick catch of Moon Sung-joo’s bunt and threw to third. One out, runners on first and second. Kim Hyun-soo singled up the middle to score a run, but Austin induced a routine grounder to shortstop. Just when you thought he was going to end the inning with a strikeout, Kim Ji-chan’s throw to second base was misplayed and another runner came home.
He retired the side in order in the fourth and fifth innings, but once again, his defence made him cry. In the bottom of the sixth, Austin hit a routine grounder down the third base foul line, but Kim Young-woong, who had committed three errors in the game, was unable to catch it. The ball was in his glove, but he failed to make a perfect catch. Buchanan then walked Austin and hit Park Dong-won with back-to-back pitches to the body. Catcher Kang Min-ho came to the mound to calm Buchanan down and struck out Oh Ji-hwan and Moon Bo-kyung to put out the fire. The increase in pitch count was painful.
Buchanan was back on the mound in the seventh and finished the inning without allowing a run. He threw 102 pitches in seven innings, allowing four hits, three walks, six strikeouts and three runs (two earned). He left the mound without earning the win after posting his fifth Quality Start Plus (7+ innings pitched, 3 earned runs or less) of the season.
Kim Hyun-soo’s first sacrifice bunt in 5743 days → decisive tiebreaking hit, ‘LG in Crisis’ had a different outcome
The day before, key batsman Kim Hyun-soo became an issue. After a recent batting slump, he attempted a surprise bunt in the bottom of the eighth inning with the score tied 1-1. He was thrown out at first base and it was recorded as a sacrifice bunt, only the second time in his career and the first in 16 years.
The bunt was followed by an RBI single by Oh Ji-hwan, and LG secured a valuable win. LG manager Yeom Kyung-yeop said before the game that he had been preparing for the game since before the season in case he had a bad batting feeling, “You can use those things when you have a bad feeling. It might change the mood and increase the batting pace,” he said.
In the bottom of the third, with runners on first and second, Kim Hyun-soo took a change-up from Buchanan and hit a single to bring in the tying run. A pair of errors later, LG completed another comeback from the previous day.
In the top of the eighth inning, shortstop Oh Ji-hwan made a perfect sliding catch on a tricky pitch that was over his height, but the play went awry after third baseman Moon Bo-kyung made a throwing error. Pitcher Park Myung-geun gave up a single to Lee Jae-hyun to put runners on first and second. However, he got pinch-hitter Oh Jae-il to fly out to second base and Lee Sung-gyu to throw a wild curveball to end the inning.
In the ninth, Ham Deok-ju took the mound. After giving up a walk to pinch-hitter Kim Jae-sung, he made another error. Austin couldn’t catch Kim’s grounder at once and runners were left stranded at first and second base. However, on the next play, Ham Deok-ju caught Kim Hyun-joon’s grounder and threw the ball to third base to cut down the lead runner. Baek Seung-hyun, who came to the mound with the bases loaded after Ham Deok-joo’s walk, faced Samsung’s No. 4 hitter Kang Min-ho and boldly sprayed the ball. He struck out swinging on a dropped ball. He then got Kim Dong-yeop to fly out to shortstop for his first career save. Buchanan suffered his fourth loss of the season 안전놀이터.