LG, which had been on a good run of late, suffered a shock sweep against NC in a three-game weekend series.

The NC Dinos won 3-1 against the LG Twins in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on 4 April.

The win keeps NC in fourth place in the league with 26 wins, 23 losses, and a +3 winning percentage. They have now won three in a row. LG, on the other hand, is on a three-game losing streak and has 32 points, one draw and 20 losses. LG suffered a home sweep against NC for the first time in 2191 days (almost 6 years) since 2-4 June 2017 (1-4, 3-4, 5-6 losses). They are second in the league standings. One game in hand on leader SSG. They also have one game in hand on third-place Lotte.먹튀검증

LG lost the first game of the weekend’s three-game series with NC 2-9 after scattering just six hits. In the next game on the third day, they had nine hits, one more than the NC, but a lack of focus led to a 3-7 loss. They then dropped the final game of the day to fall to their third straight defeat. It was the first time in about a month that LG had lost three in a row, following a three-game series against KIA in Jamsil from 28 to 30 April. LG will now embark on a six-game road trip, travelling to Kiwoom (Gocheok) and Hanwha (Daejeon). NC travels to Daegu for a midweek three-game series against Samsung before welcoming SSG to Anbang for a home three-game series at the weekend.

Instead of adding Go Woo-seok, Baek Seung-hyun, and Lee Ji-gang to the first-team roster ahead of the game, LG removed Lee Woo-chan, Lee Sang-kyu, and Sung Dong-hyun from the first-team roster all at once. Before the game, LG coach Yeom Kyung-yeop said, “We put players with good hitting ability in the first, second, and third spots. I was nervous before this NC game. It was a time when the NC’s batting pace was rising and ours was falling,” he said. “I think today was a bullpen day. I hope Lee Ji-gang can pitch well until the third inning. Go Woo-seok will definitely go out in the ninth inning. It’s important to adapt to the game, so we’ll go out regardless of whether we have the lead or not.”

NC also made changes to their roster. Instead of calling up Park Seok-min and Kim Han-byul to the first team, they removed Park Min-woo and Oh Tae-yang from the first team roster. NC head coach Kang Myung-hwa said, “Park Seok-min has improved a lot recently, so I called him up. It was good to see him play against the Futures. His hamstring is almost recovered, and we also thought about our lack of infield resources. On the other hand, Park Min-woo’s right shoulder sprain hasn’t improved, so we decided to give him a rest. For the time being, our homegrown starting rotation will be Lee Jae-hak, Choi Sung-young, and Lee Yong-jun. Shin Min-hyuk is rotating in the starting rotation for the Futures, and Song Myung-ki will be utilised in the bullpen.”
LG starter Lee Ji-gang’s quick-hook game, NC bats shine… and ‘super precipitation’ Ham Deok-ju’s unlucky ‘injury slump’
NC scored two runs in the second inning to take control of the game. After Martin led off with a single to left-centre, Kwon Hee-dong and Park Seok-min were both retired on outfield singles. However, Park Se-hyuk drew a nine-pitch walk against Lee Ji-gang, and a wild pitch put runners on second and third in Kim Joo-won’s next at-bat. Eventually, Kim Ju-won hit a two-run single to left field for a 2-0 lead.

LG went into the game with a bullpen day as Yeom had previously announced, as they had already lost two straight games and had Monday off. The team was determined to win this game. The team opted for a “quick hook” to remove starter Lee Ji-gang (who gave up three runs or less before the sixth inning) and chose Yoo Young-chan as the second pitcher.

But Yoo faltered, too. He gave up a leadoff single to Son As-seob and then stole second base. He then gave up a single to Seo Ho-cheol to put runners on first and third with no outs. Park flied out to the first baseman. LG then brought in Ham Deok-ju, who had been the closer in the absence of Ko Woo-seok, in place of Yoo Young-chan. It was practically a super rainstorm. However, Ham gave up a single to Martin in front of the left-field fence, making the score 3-0. Kwon Hee-dong followed with a strikeout. Inning over.

To make matters worse, LG faced a change in the top of the fourth inning. Ham Deok-ju went down with an injury. After striking out the leadoff batter, Park Seok-min, he was hit by a pitch to Park Se-hyuk. Ham then induced Kim Joo-won into a five-pitch swinging strikeout. However, after the strikeout, he dropped his head, put his hands on his knees and looked uncomfortable. The trainer came out to check on him, but he didn’t seem to be able to pitch anymore. LG eventually pulled Ham Deok-ju from the game and brought up Park Myung-geun. Park Myung-geun was also brought in. An LG official said about Ham Deok-ju’s condition, “He was replaced to protect the player due to discomfort in the elbow area. He is currently undergoing icing treatment.” Park looked shaky after giving up a single to Do Tae-hoon, but he got Son Ah-seop to fly out to left field to end the fourth inning. Park returned to the mound in the fifth inning and retired the first three NC batters he faced.