Manager Yoon Kyung-yup, who won Game 3, praised pitcher Lee Jung-yong for saving the day in the bottom of the ninth inning.
LG won 8-7 on the road against KT Wiz in Game 3 of the best-of-seven Korean Series (best-of-five) of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO Postseason at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, Gyeonggi-do, on Tuesday afternoon at 6:30 pm.
The game was a tightly contested batting battle. LG took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning on Austin Dean’s three-run homer to left field with runners on second and third. However, KT Wiz fought back in the bottom of the inning with an RBI double by Hwang Jae-gyun, and then scored three runs in the top of the fifth against LG’s ironclad bullpen to take a 4-3 lead.
LG started the scoring in the top of the sixth inning with a leadoff single to left field by Moon Bo-kyung. And Park Dong-won, who had hit a come-from-behind two-run homer off Park Young-hyun in the bottom of the eighth inning of the second game of the Korean Series, did it again, this time pulling a fastball from KT Wiz pitcher Seung-jo Son for a two-run homer to left.
However, the trusted closer Go Woo-seok collapsed. Go Woo-seok came into the game in the bottom of the eighth inning with his team leading 5-4, but he gave up a single to Choi Jae-dae, a sacrifice bunt by Kim Sang-soo to put runners on first and second, a single to Hwang Jae-gyun, and a two-run double to Park Byung-ho.
In the bottom of the ninth, LG tied the game at 8-7 with a dramatic come-from-behind three-run homer by Oh Ji-hwan with runners on first and second in the top of the ninth. He then prevented a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth to win the game in dramatic fashion.
In his postgame interview, Yoon said, “Austin’s home run really set the tone for the whole game. We didn’t play safe baseball and allowed the game to turn around, but we were able to win with a decisive three-run home run by Oh Ji-hwan at the end.”
“Our closer, Ko Woo-seok, was struggling, but Lee Jung-yong did a good job and took the pressure off of him,” said Yoon Kyung-yeop. “I think he’ll have less pressure in the next game because of the good closing, and I think we’ll play with a higher team atmosphere.”
When asked about the decision to bring up Go Woo-seok for the eighth inning, Yoon Kyung-yeop said, “I was actually very worried about whether to use Lee Jung-yong or Go Woo-seok,” adding, “I decided that the eighth inning was more important, and it was the time to connect the dots. However, Go Woo-seok’s delivery wasn’t bad, but he struggled because his pitches weren’t accurate. I think he will get better as the game goes on.”
On his plans for the bullpen in the upcoming Game 4, he said, “We did a good job of managing the pitch count, so it’s fine. However, Yoo Young-chan threw two innings for the second straight game. It might be too much for him, so we plan to use the bullpen 토토사이트 without him.” “However, Yoo Young-chan will also pitch one inning if the situation calls for it. We managed the overall pitch count, so all pitchers will go out after waiting.”
Finally, Yeom Kyung-yup announced Kim Yun-sik as the starting pitcher for Game 4 of the Korean Series on the 11th.