Hangzhou Youngfie rallies from 5th place slump
Hanhua pulls off upset… 3-5 spots up for grabs
The NC Dinosaurs, the ‘Dinosaur Legion’ in crisis, have gained 10 million horses. The young bloods have returned from the Hangzhou Asian Games with a bang. The battle for third through fifth place has intensified.
It’s been a tough October for NC. They lost six straight games, starting with the Samsung Lions on September 30. They finally snapped the losing streak against SSG Landers, but dropped the last game of the five-game series after a late three-pointer from Oh Tae-gon. The team dropped from second place to fifth place.
The biggest problem was the pitching staff. They ranked last in the league with a monthly ERA of over six runs. Starters Choi Sung-young and Lee Jae-hak struggled to make it through five innings, and Tanner Tully gave up seven runs in five innings. The bullpen has also been on fire. Even when the mound was working well, the bats were streaky, and ace Eric Peddie’s win total was stuck at 19.
The faltering NC needed a spark to lift their spirits, and the Asian Games ended just in time. Shortstop Kim Joo-won, catcher Kim Hyung-joon, and left-hander Kim Young-kyu returned home with gold medals. There was no question about it. Head coach Kang Myung-hyun included Kim in his starting lineup for Game 9. Of the 24 players on the roster, only two started that day with no additional rest. The other was Hanwha Eagles’ Noh Si-hwan, who is in the midst of a home run race.
The coach’s decision paid off. NC won the head-to-head matchup with Hanwha 11-6. Despite starter Shin Min-hyuk’s worst outing of the day, giving up five runs in 2⅓ innings, the bats came through for them. The win eliminated their lead over fourth-place SSG, who didn’t play today.
Kim Joo-won had a lot to do with it. Immediately after giving up three runs in the top of the second inning, the offense loaded the bases with two outs with a double to left-center field. He scored the go-ahead run in a game that could have easily gone the other way. He added another RBI in the eighth with a sacrifice fly.
The younger siblings followed suit. They rallied from a four-run deficit with two runs in the third and three in the fifth. In the eighth inning, they took advantage of a struggling Hanwha bullpen. Park went 3-for-3 with three RBIs, including a two-run homer.메이저사이트
But it’s not too early to rest on your laurels. The sixth-ranked KIA Tigers are in the hunt for fifth place. They still have three games in hand, but they have to play a two-game series in Gwangju on April 16-17. After losing both Cha and Po to injury, the Tigers are burning their last gasp. They beat the Samsung Lions 3-1 on Sunday to extend their winning streak to three games.
0 Comments