The sky is the limit.
The Kia Tigers lost their home game against the Doosan Bears 6-8 on April 15 at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju.
While the bullpen’s late-game struggles were the “clincher,” the impact of “bad luck” could not be ignored.
The game was strangely out of hand. KIA was down 0-1 in the top of the second inning when starter Yoon Young-cheol was hit by Jung Soo-bin. Facing the next batter, Kim Jae-ho, Yoon grounded into a 1B-2S double play. It looked like it was going to be a successful play, as Jung Soo-bin started to steal second base.
However, as it turned out, Yoon’s call was “null and void. Nothing happened. The moment Yoon made the catch, Kim Jae-ho called for time. The referee agreed. It was a close call, but the umpire was quick to call time, and Kim Jae-ho was able to get Yang Seok-hwan to ground out to end the inning.
The out count was also up. In the bottom of the second inning, KIA led off with a double by Choi Hyung-woo and moved to third on a groundout by Kim Sun-bin.
Lee Woo-seong hit a grounder to third baseman Heo Kyung-min. Heo’s throw to first was wide, allowing the runner at third to score.
Lee tried to advance from first to second. As he rounded the first base, he collided with the first base umpire. The players didn’t see each other properly. According to the rules, colliding with an umpire is not considered obstruction. Lee and the first baseman fell to the ground, while Doosan tagged Lee and the count went up. With runners on first and second, there were no outs. KIA was unable to get a hit off the next batter to end the inning.
He allowed the tying run to score. In the top of the ninth, Kang Seung-ho, who had singled, doubled and tripled, sent a ball directly at the pitcher with one out. The pitch went directly at Jung, who bounced hard and went sideways. Kang Seung-ho reached first base. It became the 30th cycling hit in KBO history. At the same time, it was the first reverse cycling hit in the KBO, as it consisted of a home run, a double, a triple, and a single.
However, if KIA had been lucky in the early innings, they could have gained momentum. The more they thought about it, the more they regretted it. In the end, KIA (60 wins, 2 losses, 55 draws) dropped to fifth place and lost ground on sixth-place Doosan (62 wins, 1 loss, 57 draws).
A game between the LG Twins and the Hanwha Eagles at the Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon. The LG Twins had a rain delay to smile about. 안전놀이터
It rained on and off before the game. LG took the lead in the top of the second inning with an RBI single by Oh Ji-hwan and a timely double by Moon Bo-kyung.
Hanwha answered back with a run of their own. Choi Jae-hoon singled, followed by RBI singles by Williams, Moon Hyun-bin, and Kim Tae-yeon to make it 3-1.
LG scored two runs in the third to tie the game. In the top of the fifth, they took the lead with runners on first and third on Austin’s single.
A game on thin ice. LG’s ‘finish’ was provided by the heavens. At the start of the seventh inning, it rained heavily. After 47 minutes of waiting, the rain didn’t let up and a rain cold game was declared.
For LG, the rain made them smile. They led 8-0 through two innings against the KIA in Gwangju last month, but had to swallow their disappointment when the game was called a no-game due to rain.
The disappointment of about a month ago was rewarded when it was needed most. The rain limited LG to five innings from starter Kim Yoon-sik and one inning from Kim Jin-sung. With the game on the 17th being a doubleheader. LG will be able to save its bullpen and go all out for the rest of the game.
With 71 wins (2 ties, 47 losses) on the season, LG maintained its 5.5-game lead over second-place KT Wiz (67 wins, 3 ties, 54 losses).