The most anticipated game in the three-game series this week is the LG Twins-NC Dinos in Changwon.
First-place LG takes on third-place NC. They are separated by 3.5 games. With the LG-SSG two-team system in place after Lotte fell out of the top three due to poor play, and NC jumping back into the race for the top spot, 꽁머니 it’s going to be interesting to see how they do. Especially since NC swept the previous meeting between the two teams. NC started June on a high note, winning all three of their games against LG in Jamsil from Feb. 2-4, which has been the driving force behind their current June record.
LG is in a half-game tie for first place with SSG, so the pressure is on for the surging NC. A winning series of 2-1 or better would give LG a chance to set a better tone and go home.
However, this three-game series is unique: both teams are playing the three-game series with only domestic starters, with no foreign pitchers.
For the first game on the 20th, LG will use Lee Sang-young and NC will use Choi Sung-young. They kept the same rotation as last week. If the rotation goes back in order, it will be Im Chan-gyu and Shin Min-hyuk on the 21st and Lee Min-ho and Lee Jae-hak on the 22nd.
LG had two foreign pitchers pitch over the weekend. Casey Kelly pitched on Saturday, the 17th, and Adam Plutko pitched on Sunday, the 18th. The five-man rotation will remain the same, with Lee Sang-young, Lim Chan-kyu, and Lee Min-ho in the starting lineup.
The same goes for NC. Taylor Widener threw 101 pitches against KIA on the 17th. If the rotation stays the same, he’ll start against the Changwon Hanwha Eagles on the 23rd. Ace Eric Peddy was removed from the first team on the 14th due to right forearm soreness, and even if he returns quickly, he won’t be able to pitch until the 24th, so even if he’s healthy, he won’t be able to go to LG Electronics.
In other words, this three-game series will be a battle of how well the Korean starters can keep the opposing bats at bay. Both LG and NC have tons of offense.
NC is batting first overall in June with a team batting average of 2.089. Son Ah-seop is hitting like a man possessed with a 3.9 wRC+ and Seo Ho-cheol has been energizing the team with a 3.7 wRC+. Foreign-born Jason Martin has also adjusted to the KBO with a 3-for-6 average.
In the last six games, the team batted even better, going 3-for-4. Seo Ho-cheol is batting 5-for-5, Park Min-woo is 4-for-5, Son Ah-seop is 3-for-8, Martin is 3-for-6, and Park Gun-woo is 3-for-4.
LG, which leads the league in team batting average, has dropped to ninth overall in June with a team batting average of 2.057. However, their hitting has improved a lot in the past week as they went 5-1. In their last six games, the team batted .299, good for third place.
Kim Hyun-soo, who had been struggling, led the team with a 3-for-8 performance, followed by Austin Dean at 3-for-7 and Hong Chang-ki at 3-for-5.
It will be interesting to see if he can pitch more than six innings against such a hard-hitting lineup. Lee Sang-young just got out of the military and made his first start last week, and this will be his second. LG manager Yeom Kyung-yeop has him in mind as the fourth starter, giving him plenty of time to adjust to the first team. No matter how many starts he gets, he has to prove his worth in the results. The upcoming NC game is a great opportunity for him to prove his worth. The third starter, Lim Chan-kyu, is 5-1 with a 3.10 ERA this season. As a starter, he is 5-1 with a 2.72 ERA 토토꽁포인트. However, he hasn’t been great against the NCs. He suffered his first loss of the season on March 3 in Jamsil, giving up seven runs on seven hits in five innings. This is a revenge game.
Lee Min-ho hasn’t shown much of an advantage in his three starts since returning from injury. However, he was solid in his last outing, allowing two runs on three hits in five innings against Doosan in Jamsil on April 16.
Choi Sung-young, NC’s starter on the 20th, made a relief appearance on the 2nd against the LG Electronics in Jamsil due to a sudden injury to Koo Chang-mo, and had a good outing, giving up two runs on five hits (one home run) over six innings to earn the win.
Shin Min-hyuk made a substitute start against Doosan on April 15 as Pedi was demoted to the second team, and he did his part with five hits and one run in 4⅔ innings.
Lee Jae-hak had four consecutive quality starts since being promoted to the first team, but in his last outing, he gave up seven runs on four hits and four walks in 3⅓ innings against the Kia Motors in Gwangju. He earned his first win of the season on April 4 against LG Electronics with six innings of two-hit, one-run ball (unearned), so expectations are high for this start.
It’s a battle of which team can break down the starters first. Whether or not the Korean starters are solid is one of the most important points in the season and postseason, which makes this series even more interesting.