Before the game against Jamsil Kiwoom on the 13th, LG baseball manager Yeom Kyung-yup revisited the Kiwoom trade announced on the 29th of last month. “If Choi Won-tae hadn’t come, things could have been very difficult for us,” he said, noting that foreign ace Adam Plutko was unable to pitch due to a cold and the team was on a losing streak.스포츠토토
In fact, LG has been on a steady run since acquiring Choi Won-tae, who was a mainstay of the Kiwoom starting staff, and adding him to the rotation. They are 10-2 since the trade, including a win over Kiwoom today. The gap between them and second-placed SSG is now six games. Instead of giving up their ‘future resources’ to win this season, they are seeing the benefits of bringing in Kiwoom’s ‘current power’.
LG also thanked Kiwoom for agreeing to the trade, which is rare in the single-player KBO. It’s very unusual in the history of the KBO for a team to give up a key starter in the middle of a season when they’re in the thick of a title race.
That’s not all. LG has been getting a lot out of Kiwoom this season. With a 17-8 win over Kiwoom in Jamsil on the 13th, they are now 11-1 and 3-0 against them this season. It’s a win they’ve earned by going toe-to-toe, and they don’t have to thank their opponents for it. However, since the trade, the head-to-head results between the two teams have been strange.
LG swept their first meeting with Kiwoom after the trade, sweeping the three-game series in Jamsil on the 1st, and then dominated the three-game series with Kiwoom in Jamsil again on the 11th. Conversely, Kiwoom has now lost six straight head-to-head matches against LG, a team they met with a clear starting card, with two consecutive sweeps. Regardless of the intentions, it set the stage for LG to become a dominant force.
The Jamsil meeting on the 13th also ended in a sweep for LG. In the process, Kiwoom started 19-year-old pitcher Kim Dong-kyu, one of the cards they had picked up by dropping Choi Won-tae, and completely lost the early game.
Kiwoom didn’t make a public announcement, but effectively switched to ‘rebuilding mode’. Their record since the trade is a disastrous 1-13. In this game, they were unable to make any moves in the game.
Kiwoom gave up two runs in the top of the first inning when starter Kim Dong-kyu struggled with his pitches and promptly scored two runs in the top of the second, but faltered again in the bottom of the inning when Kim gave up a solo home run to LG No. 7 Park Dong-won, giving up another three runs.
LG’s Austin Dean rounds third base after hitting a solo home run in the third inning against the Kiwoom in Jamsil on 13 July. Courtesy of LG Twins
In the bottom of the third inning, Kiwoom brought in sidearm Yang-hyun for his second pitch of the game, who was 2-5. But Yang gave up seven runs on seven hits in the third inning, including five straight singles, including a solo home run to left off LG No. 4 Austin Dean, who led off the inning. There was no one in sight in the Kiwoom bullpen while Yang was giving up seven runs. Only the Kiwoom fans above the third base bullpen at Jamsil Stadium were cheering loudly.
The Kiwoom bats were solid on the day, holding LG starter Im Chan-kyu to five runs on 11 hits in five innings. The game could have been different if they had scored fewer runs early on. What’s more, despite the game being played on a Sunday before a travelling day, the Kiwoom bench didn’t move.