Three bullpen pitchers in the seventh inning alone. SSG started to run out of time, and eventually relied on one pitcher for the entire extra inning and couldn’t hold on. This is even more concerning as it could carry over to the rest of the weekend’s games. 메이저놀이터
SSG Landers lost their 10th game of the season against the LG Twins 4-8 in 12 extra innings at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on April 18. They led 4-0 through six innings before giving up four runs in the seventh. In the extra innings, they had runners in scoring position in both the 10th and 11th innings, but couldn’t finish the game and were hit hard with counterpunches. They gave up three home runs in the 12th inning alone.
Starter Kirk McCarty did his job. He went six innings, throwing 102 pitches, giving up six hits and striking out six. There were a couple of balls that were missed and turned into hits, but the end result was the same. McCarty used his fastball, which reached up to 150 mph, and a variety of pitches, including a cutter, curve, slider, and changeup, to keep the LG bats at bay.
With Choi Joo-hwan, the “LG Killer,” hitting a three-run homer in the fourth inning to reclaim his reputation, and Kang Jin-sung hitting a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning to give McCarty and his team a boost, the game was clearly swinging in SSG’s favor. It was hard to imagine that a single run in the top of the sixth inning would be the difference in the game. LG had only three offensive opportunities left.
Of those three, the SSG pitching staff was unable to stop any of them. SSG went all out in the seventh inning, using three bullpen pitchers, but ultimately gave up the tying run. Moon Seung-won gave up back-to-back singles to Jung Ju-hyun and Oh Ji-hwan, and Park Hae-min singled.
A pitching change followed, but it didn’t change the situation. Ko Hyo-jun struck out the first batter, Hong Chang-ki, but gave up a single to Park Dong-won and a walk to Kim Hyun-soo. LG sacrificed one out to the infield, but SSG’s crisis continued. Manager Kim Won-hyung frowned as he was caught on the replay camera.
SSG then brought in Noh Kyung-eun. Noh singled to right off Austin Dean, and when Han Dong-min dropped the ball behind the plate, both runners came home. Two batters later, Han’s error in right field tied the game, but SSG had already sent out its third reliever, Noh Kyung-eun.
With Moon Seung-won, Go Hyo-joon, and Noh Kyung-eun all called upon for one inning each, SSG was in a difficult position to play a long game. After Noh Kyung-eun pitched 1⅓ innings in the eighth and Seo Jin-yong pitched one inning in the ninth, there was no one left to prevent an extension.
Left-hander Lim Jun-seop had already pitched in three midweek games. Rookie Lee Roon had pitched two days in a row. Choi Min-jun threw 23 pitches in the 10th and 11th innings, but he had only one day of rest after pitching back-to-back games on the 15th and 16th. He returned to the mound in the 12th inning and gave up three runs on two home runs. Lee, who was pitching for the third straight day, also gave up a home run to extend the lead to four runs.
SSG used a total of nine relievers during the four games this week. Among them, Lim Jun-seop and Lee Roon pitched three days in a row. In addition, Go Hyo-joon, Moon Seung-won, and Choi Min-joon appeared in three games. The bullpen for the 19th and 20th games is not easy to manage.
On the 19th, Kim Kwang-hyun will have a lot of responsibility. However, he has recorded a quality start of one run or less in all three games and has gone seven innings in two of those games. SSG has good reason to be optimistic.