Kim Yun-sik laughs after LG wins Korean Series after 7677 days “Now I’m the cheerleader, I’ll do my best to cheer”
LG Twins’ Kim Yun-sik (23) became the first LG pitcher in 21 years to win a start in the Korean Series.
Kim started Game 4 of the best-of-seven Shinhan Bank SOL Korea Series against the KT Wiz at KT Wiz Park in Suwon on Nov. 11 and pitched 5⅔ innings, allowing one run on three hits with one walk and three strikeouts. LG won the game 15-4 and took a 3-1 series lead.
After showing promise last season with an 8-5 record and 3.31 ERA in 23 games (114 1/3 innings), Kim was highly touted for this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC). However, he struggled with injuries and inconsistency this season, going 6-4 with a 4.22 ERA in 17 games (74⅔ innings).
Before the third game on the 10th, manager Yoon Kyung-yup said, “It’s really important to win three games first. If we lose three games, 70 to 80 percent of the game will be over, so if we lose today, we will change the starting rotation. If we win today, the starting rotation will go back to the way it was,” he said, suggesting that he might change the Game 4 starter from Kim Yoon-sik to Casey Kelly in the event of a Game 3 loss.
However, LG pulled off a dramatic 8-7 comeback win in Game 3, thanks to a come-from-behind three-run homer by Oh Ji-hwan in the ninth inning, and in Game 4, Kim Yun-sik started as scheduled. He did his part by shutting down the KT bats with a no-hitter until the top of the fourth inning.
LG took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning on a single by Park Hae-min and a two-run home run by Kim Hyun-soo. With a two-run lead, Kim Yun-sik took the mound and pitched three perfect innings. In the fourth inning, he gave up his first hit when he walked the leadoff batter and had two runners on base, but he got out of the jam by getting Kim Sang-soo and Hwang Jae-gyun to fly out and Park Byung-ho to strike out swinging.
In the top of the fifth, LG’s leadoff hitter Moon Sung-joo walked and Shin Min-jae’s sacrifice bunt put runners on first and second. Hong Chang-ki made it 3-0 with an RBI single. Kim Yun-sik got Jang Sung-woo to ground out to third base in the bottom of the fifth inning. However, he gave up the first hit of the game to Moon Sang-chul, ending his 4⅓-inning no-hitter. After the first hit, Kim Yun-sik didn’t falter and struck out both Jung Jun-young and Oh Yoon-seok to end the inning. 아톰카지노 주소
In the sixth inning, Kim Yun-sik struck out the leadoff batter, Choi Soo-ho, and then hit a fly ball to left field, but Kim Sang-soo doubled to load the bases. He then gave up an RBI single to Hwang Jae-gyun for the first run of the game. After throwing 87 pitches, Kim Yun-sik handed the mound over to Baek Seung-hyun. Baek gave up a single to Park Byung-ho, but got Jang Jang-woo to fly out to the catcher to keep the game scoreless. From there, the LG bats exploded, giving Kim his first career postseason win.
In his postgame interview, Kim Yun-sik said, “I feel good because I think I played a part in the team’s victory today. (Kim) Hyun-soo-hyung hit a two-run home run, so I started the game comfortably.” “They say that (Kim) Yoon-sik played a role, but I think it was not just one person, but more than 10 people,” said Kim Hyun-soo.
Kim, who started Game 3 of the playoffs against Kiwoom last year and pitched 5⅔ innings of one-run ball with three strikeouts and three walks, was once again stellar and left a strong impression of being a big game pitcher. “I’ve been in the postseason for all four years since I was a rookie,” Kim said, “and I think I’m less nervous now. I was able to pitch comfortably in the Korean Series because I did well last year,” Kim said.
“My goal from the start today was to minimize runs, whether it was in the second or third inning,” Kim said. “I did my own image training and threw my best pitch by pitch. I wanted to come down with a clean sixth inning, but I think the bench judged that my strength had dropped due to back-to-back hits, but I’m glad I came down in a good mood,” he said.
Before Kim, it had been a whopping 7677 days since an LG starter had won a Korean Series game since Ravelo Manzanio (7 innings, 1 run) in Game 2 of the 2002 Korean Series against Samsung on November 3.
LG won that game 3-1 behind Manzanio’s strong performance and a home run by Jo In-sung. “All I know is that it’s been a long time since an LG pitcher won a start in the Korean Series,” said Kim, who added, “I was 3 years old in 2002.”
Having done his part, Kim will likely never pitch again. “I’m going to play the role of cheerleader now. I’ll cheer hard,” he said, hoping for the first win in 29 years.
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