The LG Twins defeated the Samsung Lions 1-0 on Thursday to stave off elimination within the Korea Baseball Group (KBO) postseason.
Twins starter Im Chan-kyu threw 5 1/3 shutout innings at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, and Elieser Hernandez added 3 2/3 scoreless frames to mix for the slender win earlier than a sellout crowd of 23,750.
The Twins scored the one run of the sport through a sacrifice fly by Hong Chang-ki within the backside fifth.
The Lions nonetheless lead this best-of-five collection 2-1 and can take one other crack at ending off the Twins in Sport 4 on Friday, again at Jamsil.
The winner of this collection will go on to face the top-seeded Kia Tigers within the Korean Sequence.
The Twins are attempting to develop into the primary staff for the reason that 2015-16 Doosan Bears to repeat as Korean Sequence champions.
Solely thrice has a staff erased a 2-0 deficit within the best-of-five second spherical, and the latest case occurred final 12 months when the KT Wiz rallied previous the NC Dinos.
The groups traded zeroes for the primary three innings, although it wasn’t for any lack of possibilities, particularly on the Twins’ half.
Lions starter Hwang Dong-jae stored wiggling out of jams. Within the backside first, he pitched round a leadoff single by hanging out the ultimate two batters. Within the subsequent inning, Oh Ji-hwan drew a leadoff stroll towards Hwang, stole second and moved to 3rd on a flyout. However Hwang fielded a comebacker by Park Dong-won, and acquired Oh in a rundown between third and residential. Park reached second on the play, however Hwang struck out Park Hae-min to finish that rally.
Within the third, Hwang erased a one-out stroll by getting Shin Min-jae to bounce right into a 6-4-3 double play.
Twins starter Im Chan-kyu had a a lot simpler time working via the opposing lineup, permitting only one hit via the primary three frames.
Im acquired into his first jam within the fourth, when he gave up a pair of singles to place runners on the corners. However the right-hander struck out Kang Min-ho swinging on a 2-2 curveball to get himself out of bother.
Hwang acquired the hook after strolling Austin Dean to start out the underside fourth. Then reliever Lee Seung-hyun acquired Dean out in a rundown after a nifty pickoff throw.
Lee gave up a single to Kim Hyun-soo however then struck out the following two batters to maintain the sport scoreless.
The Twins lastly broke the impasse within the backside fifth. After a stroll, a sacrifice bunt and a single put runners on the corners, Hong Chang-ki drove within the recreation’s first run with a sacrifice fly to left.
The Lions practically tied the rating within the high of the sixth towards reliever Elieser Hernandez. With one out within the inning, Yoon Jeong-bin despatched a towering fly ball to proper subject. He tossed his bat with an additional zip, apparently pondering he had simply hit one out, however proper fielder Hong Chang-ki caught the ball on the wall.
The Lions missed one other alternative within the seventh. Kim Younger-woong hit a triple with two outs within the inning, as his sinking line drive skipped previous diving Hong and rolled to the warning monitor. However the subsequent batter, Lee Jae-hyeon, popped out to shallow middle to finish that risk.
The Lions frittered away one other likelihood within the eighth, with Diaz grounding right into a fielder’s selection once they had runners at first and second.
Hernandez punctuated his shutdown reduction outing by hanging out the facet within the high ninth.
After pounding out eight house runs and 28 hits whole over the primary two video games, the Lions managed solely 5 hits on this loss.
For Sport 4, the Lions will flip to their Sport 1 winner, Denyi Reyes. The suitable-hander held the Twins to at least one earned run on 4 hits in 6 2/3 innings Sunday and can be occurring 4 days’ relaxation.
The Twins will counter with left-hander Dietrich Enns, who hasn’t pitched since beginning on Oct. 9 towards the Wiz within the earlier collection.
He had a 3.00 ERA with a 0-1 file in two regular-season begins towards the Lions.
