바카라사이트He pitched well against Choi Jung (36-SSG Landers), who had four hits in the previous at-bat. The 19-year-old rookie’s pitching helped the LG Twins pull off a dramatic come-from-behind victory.
LG defeated the SSG Landers 8-6 in an away game of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League regular season on May 25 at SSG Landers Field in Michuhol-gu, Incheon. With the win, LG extended its winning streak to four games and moved into first place with 45 wins, two draws and 26 losses, 1.5 games ahead of SSG (43 wins, two draws and 27 losses), which has lost three straight.
The game looked bleak until the fifth inning, when they trailed 1-6. After scoring three runs in the sixth inning to spark a comeback, LG manager Yeom Kyung-yeop (55) called up “Pilseung-jo” Park Myung-geun. Park’s opponent in the bottom of the seventh was a tough one from the start. SSG’s cleanup batting lineup started with Choi Jung, who has a 3-for-4 batting average and a 4-for-4 slugging percentage this season. Choi was red-hot in his first two at-bats of the day, getting a hit at every opportunity to give SSG the lead.
Despite this, the 19-year-old rookie was not afraid of the ball. Choi confidently threw a fastball up the middle for an out in right field, and Guillermo Heredia, the league’s fifth-leading OPS leader, grounded out directly to him two pitches later. Park Sung-ho, who had homered earlier in the at-bat, also flied out to right field on three pitches to end the inning in just six pitches.
The youngest’s gutsy pitch spurred his older brothers on. LG scored three runs in the eighth to take a 7-6 lead, and Park Myung-geun was back on the mound with a one-run deficit. With the exception of leadoff hitter Choi Ji-hoon, he threw fastballs to the next three batters, gaining the upper hand in the pitch count battle and eventually ending the inning with one strikeout. Along with Ham Deok-ju, he was the most reliable LG pitcher on the day.
LG went on to win the game, giving Park his third win of the season. With 34 games, 3 wins, 3 losses, 5 holds, 5 saves, and a 2.83 ERA, Park is a strong candidate for Rookie of the Year. Park Myung-geun, the “scary rookie” who can pitch boldly in any situation, didn’t just happen. The former Guri Little, Guri Inchangjo and Raongo graduate was selected with the 27th overall pick in the third round of the 2023 KBO Draft. Despite his small stature at 174 centimeters, his fastball, which reaches a maximum speed of 153 kilometers per hour, and his command of the game earned him rave reviews from his seniors during his spring training in Arizona, USA.
At the beginning of the regular season, I realized I had hit a professional wall. In the opening game against KT Wiz, he gave up three runs without recording a single out, and in the next game, he gave up two runs (0 earned). But he persevered and got his chance. This was due to Yoon’s belief that Park could be the future of LG.
At the beginning of April, when Park faltered, Yeom said, “We can’t operate like this at the end of the season. That’s why I want him to be adaptable early on. We need to use a variety of players early on to keep LG’s cards fresh. If you only use the same players, new players will not appear. They need to play an inning or two to get acclimatized before they can play in important situations. I think it’s right to keep using players who can be developed,” he said.
Yoon had shown so much trust in Park that he considered him one of the five starters in spring training. Going into the season, he listed him as one of the four players who should be “nurtured” into a must-win group, along with Yoo Young-chan, Baek Seung-hyun, and Ham Deok-ju.
Two months later, the decision to stick with him is paying off. With the existing pitching staff of Ko Woo-seok and Lee Jung-yong faltering, Park Myung-geun and the other three players have become the core of the bullpen, with Ham Deok-ju posting a 1.24 ERA in 37 games, Baek Seung-hyun posting a 2.08 ERA in nine games, and Yoo Young-chan posting a 3.75 ERA in 32 games.
After the game, Yeom said, “The bats set the stage for the chase by scoring the go-ahead run in the sixth inning and tied the game in the eighth with RBI singles by Shin Min-jae and Hong Chang-ki, which set the tone for the entire game. After that, Kim Hyun-soo hit the game-winning single and Moon Bo-kyung drove in the winning run to put the game out of reach.”
“Park Myung-geun pitched two solid innings in a tough situation, and we had the bases loaded in the ninth, but Go Woo-seok was able to close out the game. I would like to congratulate Shin Min-jae for his first three-hit game of the season and praise the players for not giving up until the end and creating a comeback. I am happy and grateful to the fans for their passionate support in the away game.”
Article courtesy of Star News