The team lost the first and most important game in its quest for its first unified victory in 29 years. Nevertheless, the commander was positive. Why.
LG lost Game 1 of the best-of-seven Korean Series against KT in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO postseason at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul, South Korea, 2-3 on Sunday.
With the loss, LG lost a 74.4% chance of winning the series. Historically, the team that wins Game 1 of the Korean Series has won the title 29 out of 39 times.굿모닝토토 주소
LG clinched first place in the regular season. It had 86 wins, 2 ties, and 56 losses for a winning percentage of 0.606.
The team began preparing for the Korean Series on the 19th of last month, holding a total of six games against Cheongbaeik and training camps to check their physical condition.
And on this day, they began their journey toward their first unified championship in 29 years.
Before the game, head coach Yeom Kyung-yup was wary of the players’ motivation. “I think the players’ desire is greater than mine. We had a meeting the day before (June 6), and I told them that hesitation is your worst enemy. I asked the players to play calmly and calmly because I know their desire and passion,” he said.
However, his fears were realized in the first inning. Catcher Park Dong-won’s throw to catch Kim Sang-soo’s stolen base fell backwards. The bases were loaded, Hwang Jae-gyun hit a grounder to shortstop, and Kim Sang-soo came home to take the lead.
LG came right back, this time capitalizing on a KT error. With runners on first and third, Austin’s infield hit was fumbled by second baseman Park Kyung-soo and then tossed to shortstop Kim Sang-soo, but it was too late. Park’s error allowed Park Hae-min to score from third base to tie the game. After Oh Ji-hwan singled to right, Moon Bo-kyung followed with a sacrifice fly to right field.
However, in the second inning, an error occurred. Moon Bo-kyung, the third baseman, made a throwing error while trying to catch Jang Jang-woo’s grounder. Moon Sang-chul followed with a single to left, putting runners on first and second.
Here’s a rare scene. Moon Sang-chul tried to bunt, but it fell in front of the catcher. The catcher, Park Dong-won, wasted no time in throwing to the backup third baseman, Oh Ji-hwan, to force out Jang Jang-woo at second base. Oh then threw back to first base to get the runner at the plate. Austin, who had advanced from first to second base, spotted the runner trying to steal third and drove him in, and Shin Min-jae threw him out at third. Instead of Moon Sang-chul’s triple, it was a defensive triple. It was the perfect moment to stop KT’s flow.
The momentum seemed to shift back in LG’s favor. However, LG was unable to extend their lead and gave KT a chance. In the top of the fourth inning, Kelly gave up back-to-back walks to Hwang Jae-gyun and Alford. Jang Jang-woo then hit an RBI single to tie the game at 2-2.
In the bottom of the fourth, Park Dong-won’s hit by pitch, Moon Sung-joo’s infield grounder and Shin Min-jae’s single put runners on first and third, but Hong Chang-ki and Park Hae-min struck out side by side to end the threat.
From the first to the fifth inning, Korea had runners in scoring position in every inning but three. In those five at-bats, they left a whopping eight runners on base. They couldn’t get out of the jam and gave up the game-winning double to Moon Sang-chul in the ninth inning.
However, manager Yoon Kyung-yeop said after the game, “I think the pitchers did their job for the most part. We had a lot of extra-base hits, but it was difficult because we couldn’t score extra runs.” However, he also said, “Overall, I don’t think the feeling of the game was bad, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s game.”
First baseman Hong Chang-ki went hitless in five at-bats. He also struck out twice.
Manager Yoon Kyung-yeop expressed his faith in Chang-ki, saying, “I think he’ll do a good job tomorrow,” and “I’ll go with the batting order.”
LG committed four errors on the day. This was connected to the “motivation” that Yoon was concerned about before the game. However, he said, “I don’t care because it doesn’t lead to runs. We can make up for it tomorrow,” he said.
The cold wasn’t a problem either. The temperature plummeted on the day of the Winter Korea Series.
“I don’t think it was as cold as I thought it would be. It didn’t affect the game too much.”
Most of all, he felt sorry for the LG fans who came to Jamsil Stadium. “I’m sorry that I couldn’t show them a winning game. We will play well tomorrow so that we can go home with a smile on our faces.”