Professional baseball team LG Twins became the victim of a first-time KBO record. The dilemma over the cleanup hitter caused by Moon Bo-gyeong's injury has not been resolved.
LG lost 3-9 to the Hanwha Eagles in the game held on the 10th at Daejeon Hanwha Life Insurance Ballpark. The result was the exact opposite of what was expected from the starting matchup.
LG's starter was Raclan Wells, who before the game ranked first in the league with a 1.00 earned run average. On April 22 at Jamsil against Hanwha he earned a victory with a perfect eight innings with no runs allowed. Meanwhile Hanwha's starter was Park Jun-young (No. 68), who joined Hanwha this year as a育성 player and was registered as an official player on the 7th. He had a Futures League record of seven games, four wins, no losses and a 1.29 ERA, but this was his first game in the first team.
However, the result was the exact opposite. Park Jun-young recorded three hits allowed, three walks, two strikeouts and no runs over five innings. With an unexpectedly strong performance, he became the winning pitcher. A rookie pitcher winning his debut as a starter was the 36th in KBO history, and Park Jun-young is the first育성 player to record a winning start in his debut in KBO history.
Meanwhile Wells allowed three runs in the second inning and collapsed, giving up six runs (five earned) in 3 1/3 innings. He experienced his first loss of the season. His ERA skyrocketed from 1.00 to 2.06. Manager Youm Kyoung-youb waved the white flag early, removing three regulars — Oh Ji-hwan, Hong Chang-ki and Park Dong-won — in the bottom of the fifth when they trailed 0-5.
LG had a good chance in the first inning. After one out, Gu Bon-hyeok reached on a walk, and Austin hit a double over the right fielder's head to create a second-and-third opportunity. However, cleanup hitter Oh Ji-hwan struck out on three pitches. Then Cheon Seong-ho flew out to shortstop and the inning ended without a run.
After missing the chance in the first, LG's game unraveled. They could not properly attack the unfamiliar pitcher Park Jun-young. The second inning was a 1-2-3, and in the fourth, after two outs, Song Chan-ui walked and Lee Young-bin's single to center created a runner at first and third, but Park Dong-won popped out to third. In the fifth, a double play by Hong Chang-ki erased the chance with no outs and a runner on first.
Failing to score in the first inning can be said to have decided the flow of the game. Since Moon Bo-gyeong's injury, LG has been troubled at cleanup. Moon Bo-gyeong went down with an ankle injury in the game against Doosan on the 5th and was diagnosed in hospital tests with 4 to 5 weeks of rehabilitation. Since then LG has used Cheon Seong-ho as the cleanup hitter on the 6th against Doosan, Oh Ji-hwan on the 7th against Doosan, Austin on the 8th and 9th against Hanwha, and Oh Ji-hwan on the 10th against Hanwha.
In the game against Doosan on the 6th, LG created a bases-loaded, no-out chance in the first inning, but Cheon Seong-ho struck out and the team failed to score in that opportunity. Cheon Seong-ho went 0 for 4. In the Doosan game on the 7th, Oh Ji-hwan struck out in the first inning with two outs and a runner on second, finishing the game 0 for 5 and silent at the plate.
In the Hanwha games on the 8th and 9th, Austin excelled in the cleanup spot with six hits in 10 at-bats (one home run) and three RBIs, carrying over a strong batting feel with a May average in the .400s. On the 10th Oh Ji-hwan was again the cleanup hitter. In the first inning with one out and runners on second and third he struck out on three pitches, and in the fourth he led off and was out on a grounder to second base.
Oh Ji-hwan and Cheon Seong-ho are 0 for 11 in the cleanup spot. Manager Youm said that the hot-hitting Austin will create many chances, and that the cleanup hitter afterward is being chosen as a batter who can produce in-play balls with fewer strikeouts, but they are striking out in critical moments. The cleanup dilemma is likely to continue for the time being.
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