The Samsung Lions of the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) suffered a 3-8 upset loss in the final game of the first half against the KIA Tigers at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on April 4. The Lions lost their fifth straight game and finished the first half in fourth place after losing to KT in Suwon on March 28th. Neither Lim Chang-min, who leads the league in holds, nor Oh Seung-hwan, who leads the league in saves, were able to stop Kia’s potent firepower.
With a 3-2 lead in the eighth inning, Lim struck out the leadoff batter, Kim Do-young, on a full count. After giving up a single to Na Sung-beom, Choi Hyung-woo hit a double to right-center to tie the game at 3-3.
With runners on first and second, he avoided a face-off with foreign hitter Socrates Brito. A walk loaded the bases with two outs. After striking out Byun Woo-hyuk on a wild pitch, he induced pinch-hitter Han Jun-soo to fly out to right field to end the inning.
With the score tied 3-3 in the ninth,
Oh Seung-hwan took the mound. He struck out Choi Won-joon (swinging) and Park Chan-ho (ground ball to shortstop) and looked to have an easy inning. However, Kim Sun-bin doubled and Kim Do-young walked to put runners on first and second. In the eighth inning, Park Jung-woo, who pinch-hit for Na Sung-beom, 고스톱사이트 took a two-pitch forkball from Oh Seung-hwan and lined it over the right-field fence for a double. Both runners came home to make it a 3-5 game.
Oh Seung-hwan gave up another run when Hong Jong-pyo singled up the middle. With two outs, he threw a fastball to Socrates, but it sailed over the right-center field fence. After a hit by Byun Woo-hyuk, Oh Seung-hwan gave way to left-hander Lee Sang-min.
Lee, who hadn’t allowed a run in four consecutive games since his promotion to the first team last month, struck out Han Jun-soo on a foul fly to first base to end the inning. Samsung’s only offense in the bottom of the ninth came when pinch-hitter Kim Jae-hyuk singled with two outs.
The 3-8 reverse ended the first half with five straight losses.
Samsung, which was labeled as a bottom-tier power heading into the season, has made an unexpected run. The team’s surge to the top of the standings was unexpected. The team’s surge has been fueled by Oh Seung-hwan, who has secured 24 team wins, and Lim Chang-min, who has 20 holds. “We haven’t been playing well lately, but we’ve definitely felt the effect of strengthening our bullpen this season,” Park Jin-man said ahead of the fourth game.
However, he hasn’t pitched as well as expected recently due to low stamina. The five-game losing streak has shown that a weak back end can bring down a tower of a ballpark. The hope is that these players, whose role and importance to the team is enormous, will recharge during the All-Star break and return in the second half of the season as an invincible shield.
