The Korean Series KS after 7667 days. LG collapsed with a whopping four errors. They had a triple and a home run, but four errors left them with a one-run deficit.
LG fell to KT 2-3 in Game 1 of the best-of-seven Shinhan Bank SOL KBO Korean Series at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on Sunday. Starting pitcher Casey Kelly pitched 6⅓ innings with two runs (one earned), but the offense held him to two runs. Go Woo-seok gave up the final run in the ninth inning.
It had been 7,667 days since LG’s last Korean Series appearance, a 9-10 Game 6 loss to Samsung in 2002 at Daegu Citizens Stadium. It’s been 21 years since the last Korean Series, and the pressure is as great as the anticipation. With 22 days off since the regular season finale against Doosan in Jamsil on March 15, there were concerns about sensory issues early in the game.
As expected, the team did not look warmed up at the beginning of the game. In the first inning, KT’s Kim Sang-soo singled up the middle and then stole second base. In the process, 카지노사이트 LG catcher Park Dong-won’s throw was one-bound and hit the glove of second baseman Shin Min-jae, bouncing sideways to give up another base. Park Dong-won’s throwing error. With no outs, Hwang Jae-gyun’s grounder to shortstop allowed Kim Sang-soo, the third baseman, to come home and give Korea the lead.
There was another error in the second inning.
KT leadoff hitter Jang Jang-woo hit a grounder that third baseman Moon Bo-kyung couldn’t get out of bounds. A throwing error. A hit by pitch put runners on first and second with no outs, but this is where the LG defense shined. Instead of rolling forward, KT’s Moon Sang-chul’s bunt stopped in front of the catcher, and Park Dong-won quickly threw to third base.
Moon took the throw, forced out the runner at second, and threw to first with a running throw. The runner on second quickly followed with a single. At that moment, the first baseman’s platoon slid past second base and into third. Second baseman Shin Min-jae, who was covering first base, threw the ball from first to third, and Moon Bo-kyung caught it in a falling position and tagged out Byeong-dae, ending the inning in a flash. It was the second triple in the Korean Series since Hyundai in Game 7 of the 2004 Korean Series (Yang Jun-hyuk in the first inning).
LG also had an error in the fourth inning. After KT’s Jang Jang-woo singled to right-center with runners on first and second, shortstop Oh Ji-hwan’s throw home was completely sideways on the replay. Pitcher Kelly, who entered the backup play, grabbed the ball and threw it home, but it went sideways again, and catcher Park Dong-won spilled it. At that moment, Alford, who was fumbling at third base, ran home. In the meantime, LG’s first baseman, Austin Dean, quickly moved into home plate coverage and caught Park’s throw to tag out Alford. It was a twisty play, but a quick base-covering play.
In the sixth inning, it was a rain parade.
With one out, Hwang Jae-gyun hit a line drive to center field that was caught by Shin Min-jae at second base on a bent-leg slide and thrown directly to first base without taking a step. Shin used the bounce of his body and made a precise throw from the dugout to get the out. Hosmer followed that up with a big hit to Alford’s left near the walking track. The slice was a tricky one to catch, but Moon was able to follow it and make a natural sliding catch. Pitcher Kelly raised both arms in celebration.
In the seventh inning, the defense prevented a run. With runners on first and second, KT pinch-hitter Kim Min-hyuk hit a single to right that slipped between first and second. Second baseman Jang Jang-woo raced home, but LG right fielder Hong Chang-ki’s throw to first was accurate. KT requested a video review on whether or not he was tagged out, but he was ruled out. It was a brilliant home run by Hong Chang-ki that prevented a run from scoring.
However, the defense did not translate into a win.
After Tae-Sun scored two runs in the first inning, they were stymied by the KT bats. In the bottom of the ninth inning, closer Go Woo-seok walked Bae Joo-dae on nine pitches before allowing Moon Sang-chul to hit a two-run double off the left field fence. In the process, Oh Ji-hwan, who was relaying the play, threw home again, leading to an error. The error allowed Moon Sang-chul to advance to third base. Go Woo-seok struck out Oh Yoon-seok to prevent any more runs from scoring, but the defense was unfortunate. Oh Ji-hwan made two throwing errors while playing relay.
After the game, LG manager Yeom Kyung-yeop said, “I didn’t have much to do with the runs. We made mistakes by throwing balls that shouldn’t have been thrown. It’s something we can cover in tomorrow’s game. I’m not worried about it.” Although there were no mistakes that led to runs, there are concerns that the burden of the first game loss will weigh on the defense in the second game.