“I chose to win.”
The battle of resourcefulness between kt Wiz coach Lee Kang-cheol (57) and Yeom Gyeong-yeop (55), LG Twins coach began in earnest.
The two coaches had a fierce nerve war from the media day of the ‘2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League’ held on the 30th of last month. At the place where both teams revealed the starting pitcher for the opening game, they fought each other, saying, “I chose (starting pitcher) to win.”
The card the home team kt chose was Wes Benjamin, the ‘left-handed lion’ who recorded a batting average of 0.206 against left-handed batters last year. It was an optimized choice for the LG batting line with many left-handed hitters.
On the other hand, LG chose Casey Kelly, a long-lived foreign pitcher. Since 2019, Kelly has recorded a respectable performance with an average ERA of 2.43 and 59 strikeouts in 70⅓ innings in 11 games against kt in his career. Last year, it was the best card that LG could pick as the king of most wins (16 wins).
In the opening match, manager Lee’s kt won 11-6. From the selection fight, it was the difference between winning and losing. Benjamin recorded 2 hits, no 4 walks, 4 strikeouts and 1 run (no run) in 6 innings, and Kelly bowed his head with 8 hits (2 homers), 4 walks, 3 strikeouts and 6 runs in 5⅓ innings.
The second round was more intense. A bloody battle took place for 4 hours and 47 minutes. A total of 17 pitchers were used by both teams. It was an all-out war. The tight 9-9 match ended in the top of the 11th inning. Relief pitcher Park Young-hyeon got a left-handed hit from lead hitter Park Dong-won, then allowed Moon Bo-kyung a sacrifice bunt and Hong Chang-gi a left field double, resulting in one run and second and third base.
Here, Manager Yeom appointed pinch hitter Lee Chun-woong in place of Park Hae-min, who had a poor sense of hitting. KT also fired back. From the opening series, Koh Young-pyo, a starting resource, was put into the bullpen. On the 30th of last month, three days ago, Koh Young-pyo made a relief pitch against Yonsei University and threw 45 pitches in 4 innings. As the director, who had no suitable alternative, he poured everything into it.
This time Director Yeom laughed. Lee Chun-woong tried a squeeze bunt on Ko Young-pyo’s main weapon, the changeup, and shook the kt infield. In the end, the third base runner stepped home, and LG won its first win of the 2023 season with a score of 10-9.
KT and LG exchanged 1 win and 1 loss side by side in the opening series 2 consecutive games. The two teams are expected to continue to draw a fierce rivalry.스포츠토토 Since Media Day, he has been expected to be a team with a high postseason advancement to the commanding tower of 9 clubs except himself, and many factors such as the battle of strategy between seniors and juniors at Gwangju Jeil High School are attracting fans’ interest.
From the opening series, kt and LG competed fiercely. It seems to have announced the beginning of the rivalry between the two teams in the 2023 season.