The LG Twins and the Samsung Lions were scheduled to have a showdown in the second round of the 2024 Shinhan Bank SOL Bank KBO League postseason playoff at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on Sunday. However, the game was postponed due to rain without a break.토토사이트
LG, which secured a ticket to the playoffs by winning as many as five games against KT Wiz in the semi-playoff, suffered more than one loss in the first game. This is why Choi Won-tae, who even recruited Lee Joo-hyung and Kim Dong-kyu, including the first round of the 2024 Rookie Draft, failed to shake off the sluggishness in the semi-playoff, aiming for the first round of the semi-playoff.
Choi allowed a sacrifice fly to Lewin Diaz to yield the first run in the first inning, which he caused himself to lose from the start of the game. Afterwards, he ended the inning without additional runs, and then passed the defense line in the second inning without a run, seemingly stabilizing himself. However, he lost the lead in the beginning when he was hit by a three-run homer by Koo Ja-wook at a crisis that came again, including consecutive hits by Kim Ji-chan and Yoon Jeong-bin in the bottom of the third inning. In response, Oh Ji-hwan hit a solo homer in the top of the fourth inning to speed up LG’s pursuit, but as Choi Won-tae was hit by Kim Young-woong again at the beginning of the fourth inning, the gap between the four runs was hardly narrowed.
After Choi Won-tae, LG put in Yoo Young-chan early and finished the bottom of the fourth inning without additional runs, but the game tilted sharply toward Samsung as Kim Jin-sung, who believed in the fifth inning, gave up two points. Nevertheless, LG scored three points in the top of the seventh inning thanks to Samsung’s errors and others to narrow the gap once again, but the gap that had already been widened was too wide. Rather, a shocking result of 4-10 was born as a result of self-destruction when Kim Dae-hyun gave up two points with a wild pitch at the bottom of the seventh inning and Kim Dae-hyun at the bottom of the eighth inning.
Prior to the first game, manager Yeom Kyung-yeop emphasized that the series was played with three bullpen resources in the semi-playoff, including Yoo Young-chan, Kim Jin-sung, and “El Dong-won” Elijah Hernandez, and voiced the need for existing bullpen resources to play their part. And in the playoffs, he said he would actively utilize bullpen pitchers such as Yoo Young-chan, Kim Jin-sung, and Hernandez. However, when all but three pitchers fell down in the first game, he bowed after the game.
“In the end, we will have to compete in the winning group, Yoo Young-chan, Kim Jin-seong, Ham Deok-ju and Ellie,” the coach said. He reversed his intention to use various players in just half a day before the match. As such, he admitted that the players’ conditions confirmed through the match were too good to be trusted and utilized in short-term matches.
With the atmosphere sagging enough, good news came to LG. The rain, which began to fall at 3 p.m. on the 14th, continued to pour, and the game was postponed in a surprise move. In the case of coach Park Jin-man, if he met with reporters before the game was postponed, manager Yeom Kyung-yeop conducted an interview when the game was decided whether to proceed or not, but his smile did not disappear from the lips of the crotch. It was a natural response in a situation where fatigue accumulated through the fifth game of the semi-playoff.
“I just wanted to take a day off. I thought resting might help us a little bit, but it rained. It helped us a little bit,” manager Yeom Kyung-yeop said with a smile. “I also changed the starting pitcher for the second round to (Son) Joo-young. I also checked with the training part, pitching coach, and the players themselves. Actually, since the rain forecast, I wanted Joo-young to play in the second round.”
It can be seen that one game has been postponed simply due to rain, but this rainstorm could lead to a huge butterfly effect in a short-term match. Manager Yeom Kyung-yeop was not aware of this either. Asked if he thinks the postponement will affect the series, the head coach said, “It will change,” and added, “The starting pitcher has changed for now. ENCE also played three to four days of rest rotation, so he can get enough rest and play.”
In particular, it is also good news for LG that Eliaser Hernandez, who took the mound in five games in the semi-playoff and threw 117 pitches with two holds, one save, and a dominant performance of “Zero,” can be put in up to two innings. Initially, manager Yeom Kyung-yeop said he would use Hernandez for up to one ⅔ before the first game, but the cancellation of the second game gave him a little breathing room in the mound management.
“I think rest will also be effective in resilience for N.C.E.N.s. Except for Ellie, no one was too active in the semi-playoff, but Ellie is also comfortable spending two innings tomorrow (15th) thanks to the rain. She has another day off afterwards. It has become an option for me. I think it will be very helpful to have options with high probability due to rain,” Yeom said.
How will the rain on Friday affect the series? What is clear is that LG, which has elevated its sense of play in the real game, has now become a golden opportunity to relieve fatigue.