Im Chan-kyu, reborn as the “Guardian of Autumn,” dramatically saved the LG Twins from the brink.
LG defeated the Samsung Lions 1-0 in the best-of-three best-of-five series of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO Postseason Playoffs (PO-5) on Sunday at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul, South Korea, thanks to a special pitching performance by Lim Chan-kyu and Eliezer Hernandez.
LG, which was in a dead end after losing both the first and second rounds of the PO in Daegu, made a comeback.
Game 4 of the best-of-seven series will be held at 6:30 p.m. on April 18 at the same venue.
Lim pitched 5⅓ innings of three-hit, four-strikeout, no-hit ball to earn his third win in the postseason this year, including two in the semifinals.
Lim was named the Daily Most Valuable Player (MVP) after the game and received a $1 million prize.
Hernandez, who came on in relief in the sixth inning, retired all three batters he faced in the ninth inning to earn the save and share the team shutout with Lim, who pitched 3⅔ innings of two-hit, five-strikeout ball.
Lim and Hernandez held the Samsung bats scoreless in Game 1 and 2 of the best-of-seven series at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, South Korea.
In a pitcher's duel between LG's last standby Im Chan-kyu and Samsung's surprise starter Hwang Dong-jae, the two teams wasted a pair of early chances.
LG had a one-out, three-run opportunity in the second inning when leadoff hitter Oh Ji-hwan led off with a walk, 메이저사이트 stole second base and reached third on Moon Bo-kyung's deep fly ball to left field.
However, Park Dong-won's grounder in front of the pitcher left Oh Hwan stranded between home and third base, preventing him from scoring.
Samsung also came up short in the fourth inning when Yoon Jung-bin and Park Byung-ho singled to put runners on first and third, but Kang Min-ho struck out swinging on a slow curveball from Im Chan-kyu.
In the bottom of the fourth, after Hwang Dong-jae walked leadoff hitter Austin Dean and threw a fastball to the next batter, Kim Hyun-soo, Samsung manager Park Jin-man immediately brought up left-hander Lee Seung-hyun to face both a stolen base and a left-handed hitter.
Before Lee could throw the first pitch, Austin stole second base, but Lee was able to catch him in time to make a sliding catch between first and second.
He then gave up a single to Kim Hyun-soo, but struck out Oh Ji-hwan and Moon Bo-kyung back-to-back to earn applause.
LG, which has no tomorrow, didn't waste its third chance.
In the top of the fifth, Park Dong-won drew a walk and Park Hae-min laid down a sacrifice bunt.
With runners on first and second, Moon Sung-joo hit a short single to center field to put runners on first and third.
Hong Chang-ki followed with a sacrifice fly to left field against Lee Seung-hyun, sending Park home.
After the third pitcher, Song Eun-beom, walked Shin Min-jae on a straight ball to put runners on first and second, Samsung brought in Kim Yoon-soo to get Austin Dean to fly out to right field.
In the top of the seventh inning of Game 1 with runners on first and second and two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning of Game 2 with a 6-1 lead, Kim struck out Austin on three pitches and got him to ground out to shortstop.
He then induced a fly ball to right field with a fastball that clocked in at 156 miles per hour on the scoreboard to end the inning.
With a 1-0 lead, LG brought in closer Card Hernandez with the bases loaded in the sixth inning to lock down the win.
Hernandez was threatened with a run in the top of the seventh thanks to a poor play by right fielder Hong Chang-ki, who threw the ball behind him while attempting to field Kim Young-woong's single (officially a triple), but he got Lee Jae-hyun to ground out to center field to end the threat.
With runners on first and second in the eighth inning, he induced Samsung's No. 4 hitter Lewin Diaz to ground out to shortstop to end the game.
The third game of the PO was also sold out (23,750 seats), extending the streak of 15 consecutive sold-out games since the first game of the Korean Series last year. The gate receipts also surpassed 10 billion won.
LG's Kim Hyun-soo became the third player in history to play in 100 postseason games after Hong Sung-heon (retired - 109 games) and Park Jin-man (104 games).