I did the best I could. SSG Landers coach Won-Hyung Kim gave his all-out effort as the team continued to push the game to the brink, but ended the fall festival without achieving a single win.
The downfall of defending champion SSG makes us tilt our heads even more.
SSG lost 6-7 in the third game of the semi-playoff against the NC Dinos of the ‘2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO Postseason’ held at Changwon NC Park on the 25th.
After a fierce battle for the rankings at the end of the regular season, SSG took 3rd place with a season record of 76 wins, 65 losses, and 3 draws, successfully advancing directly to the semi-playoffs.
Up to this point, things have gone as SSG had hoped, but they lost the first and second games held at SSG Landers Field in Incheon, their home stadium, and fell to their second loss of the series.
SSG lost the first game 3-4 and the second game 3-7, and was on the verge of being eliminated after losing all three games.
Starting pitcher Oh Won-seok’s mission was important.
If Oh Won-seok could endure as many innings as possible while allowing as few runs as possible, giving the batting line time to make up for it
the series could have dragged on to Game 4.
Before Game 3, Coach Kim said, “It is sometimes difficult for starting pitchers to find their senses at the beginning of the game.
We will not change them unconditionally just because they concede a point in the front, but we will make a decision based on their condition and position. 토토사이트
If they are not in good condition, we may replace them early.
He said he would carefully decide when to judge Oh Won-seok.
Oh Won-seok did not live up to Director Kim’s expectations at all. He allowed only 5 runs on 48 pitches, 5 hits, 3 walks, 1 strikeout, and 1 strikeout in 1⅓ innings.
Director Kim collapsed without even being able to create conditions to change the situation.
It was a mess from the start as they conceded goals.
He was shaken in the bottom of the first inning when he allowed a hit to left center to leadoff hitter Son Ah-seop.
Oh Won-seok showed a strong performance this year by recording no hits in eight at-bats against Son Ah-seop in the regular season.
But he allowed his first hit on the most important game of the game.
Oh Won-seok gave up a right-field hit to the next batter, Park Min-woo, and was in danger of reaching first and second base with no outs.
It was important for him to compete with the next batter, Park Geon-woo, and he guided Park Geon-woo to a ground ball to the third baseman.
As soon as third baseman Choi Jeong caught the catch, he stepped on third base and threw to second base, and even runner Park Min-woo from second base to first base was out.
SSG tried to connect batter-runner Park Geon-woo with a triple play, but Park Geon-woo was saved at first base.
He held on well until 2 outs and 1 base, but was unable to block the NC-centered batting lineup.
He gave Martin a hit to right, putting the runners on first and third base with two outs, and Martin stole second base during Kwon Hee-dong’s next at-bat.
Then, Kwon Hee-dong hit a timely hit with two RBIs to right, making it 0-2.
The crisis continued. The next batter was Seo Ho-cheol, who had such good hitting skills that he hit a grand slam even in the wild card game against the Doosan Bears.
In the ongoing crisis with 2 outs and runners on first base, Seo Ho-cheol hit a timely double that completely split the left-center field, widening the gap to 0-3.
Oh Won-seok seemed to be in trouble again when he walked Kim Hyeong-jun with 2 outs and runners on second base, but he put out the fire by striking out Kim Joo-won with a missed swing.
To conclude the first inning, Oh Won-seok had to throw 31 balls.
SSG’s batting lineup relieved Oh Won-seok’s shoulders by supporting a whopping 5 runs in the top of the second inning.
At the opportunity with two outs and the bases loaded, Heredia got a walk and Choi Jeong hit a grand slam to left, quickly turning the game around to 5-3.
As NC starting pitcher Tanner Turley collapsed, if Oh Won-seok held on a little longer, the victory could definitely be secured.
However, Oh Won-seok’s ball was still not good.
He sent out leadoff hitter Do Tae-hoon on a bases-loaded ball, and when Park Min-woo was at bat with one out, catcher Kim Min-sik’s fastball came out, making it 1 out and runners on second base.
And when Park Min-woo was sent out and the crisis continued with one out and runners on first and second base, Manager Kim made a game-winning move by putting sure-to-win Noh Gyeong-eun on the mound.
The first match ended in failure. Noh Kyung-eun could not stop Oh Won-seok from taking charge.
As soon as he took the mound, he allowed Park Geon-woo a timely hit to the left and was chased 5-4.
Then, Jason Martin hit a three-run home run to bring the score to 5-7.
Oh Won-seok allowed 5 runs, and Noh Kyung-eun stayed on the mound until the 3rd inning, allowing 2 runs in 1⅔ innings.
Coach Kim’s second game-winning move came in the top of the third inning.
Leadoff hitter Ha Jae-hoon got a walk and pulled Tanner off the mound.
NC’s plan was to elevate Lee Jae-hak to the second pitcher and make him responsible for as long innings as possible.
After one out, Kim Seong-hyun and Oh Tae-gon walked, giving the bases loaded with one out.
Manager Kim took out the pinch hitter Choi Ji-hoon’s card during Kim Min-sik’s at-bat.
Ji-hoon Choi recorded 2 hits in 6 at-bats against Jae-hak Lee this year, including a triple and 2 RBIs. Lee Jae-hak’s career batting average against Jae-hak Lee was 0.400 (6 hits in 15 at-bats).
I trusted the data and exported it.
However, this winning strategy also failed. Choi Ji-hoon held on well until the ball count was 2-2, but he touched Lee Jae-hak’s 5th pitch fastball and hit the shortstop with a double play.
The worst scenario that Director Kim did not want to face unfolded.
Choi Ji-hoon failed as Choi Ji-hoon, and Anbang Madam had to be replaced from Kim Min-sik to Lee Jae-won.
The third winner was Kirk McCarty. McCarty ended the season on September 24th due to an injury to his right oblique muscle.
He devoted himself to rehabilitation to prepare for his post-season appearance, and was named to the semi-playoff entry list as he received a passing grade.
Before his injury, McCarty had 9 wins, 5 losses, 130 innings, 116 strikeouts, and an ERA of 3.39 in 24 games.
Instead, it was difficult for him to start.
This is because he had a gap in practice for nearly a month.
Manager Kim announced that if McCarty takes the mound, he will be in the bullpen.
And he finally stepped on the mound for the first time in Game 3.
For the first time on this day, McCarty lived up to Coach Kim’s expectations.
He came on as a relief pitcher in the bottom of the 4th inning when the team was down 6-7, and pitched well in the 2nd inning with 40 pitches, 3 hits, 1 walk out, 1 strikeout, and no runs.
In the bottom of the 4th inning, leadoff hitter Son A-seop hit a single, and when Park Geon-woo was at bat with one out and 1st base on
catcher Lee Jae-won made a throwing error to block 2nd base, so 1st base runner A-seop Son was sent out to 3rd base, but he did not give up a follow-up hit and ended up with no runs.
I blocked it.
Same goes for the bottom of the 5th inning. McCarty gave up a hit to Seo Ho-cheol and a walk to Kim Hyeong-jun, putting him in danger with 2 outs and runners on first and second base.
I wondered if Oh Young-soo was able to guide a ground ball to first baseman, but Oh Tae-gon was unable to catch it at once and it ended up being an infield hit.
Oh Tae-gon did not give up here and caused third base runner Seo Ho-cheol, who was aiming for home, to run down, causing the catcher to tag out.
Although it was difficult, the mission given to McCarty was fully accomplished.
In the top of the 7th inning, with two outs, Seong-Hyun Kim and Tae-Gon Oh got walks in succession, giving SSG a chance to get to first and second base.
During Lee Jae-won’s at-bat, Manager Kim looked at the movements of the NC bench and then took out the pinch hitter Choi Joo-hwan’s left-hander card.
NC then removed right-hander Jin-wook Ryu, who was on the mound, and brought up left-hander Lim Jeong-ho.
Manager Kim could not use Choi Joo-hwan’s card at all and immediately replaced the pinch hitter with right-handed hitter Kang Jin-seong.
Kang Jin-seong had to somehow come up with a result so that the ending of Choi Joo-hwan’s card being discarded was not in vain, but the result was a fly ball to right field.
SSG was unable to narrow the gap to 1 point.
SSG’s fall ended in vain with three losses as Ha Jae-hoon struck out on a missed swing in the 9th inning, Seong-han Park hit a grounder to first base, and Seong-Hyun Kim struck out on a missed swing.