The only member of the LG Twins lineup to start Games 1 and 2 of the Korean Series who didn’t get a hit. The best hitter in the regular season, with a batting average of .332 (4th), 174 hits (3rd), a slugging percentage of .440 (1st), and 109 runs scored (1st), was suddenly silent. The players themselves, the coaching staff, the front office, and the fans are upset. It’s leadoff hitter Hong Chang-ki, a player who has waited 29 years to win the Korean Series, a player who must come alive to realize the dream.
Eight hits in nine at-bats in Games 1 and 2, one run, one walk and two strikeouts. The best leadoff hitter with good contact looked like an outsmith.
Had a bad Game 1, going 0-for-5 with a walk. In the bottom of the 4th inning with 2-2 and runners on first and third, he was out on a grounder to the shortstop. If Hong had gotten a hit, it could have changed the game. The next two batters in the 6.9th inning struck out, leaving the team with a 3-2 deficit.
“They’ll do a good job in the future. I told him to keep doing what he was doing.” However, he finished the second game on Aug. 8 without a hit in four at-bats. 카지노사이트 His only at-bat came in the bottom of the third inning.
After falling behind by four runs in the first inning, LG slowly came to life.
Oh Ji-hwan and No. 6 Park Dong-won homered, and Kim Hyun-soo and Austin Dean had RBI singles to make it a 5-4 game. From the first inning on, the bullpen went all out to turn the tide.
Had the team lost, Hong’s struggles would have been even more pronounced.
It’s not uncommon for a team to dominate in the pennant race and then fade in the postseason. In four playoff games with the Kiwoom Heroes last year, he went 1-for-11 with no RBIs. LG, which finished second in the regular season, failed to advance to the Korean Series.
In six postseason games over the past two years, he went 1-for-19 with a home run and five RBIs. Come fall, the Hong Chang-ki we know will be gone.
It’s happened before.
In 2020, he went 0-for-4 in the Wild Card Game with the Heroes and 0-for-8 in the semifinals with the Doosan Bears. In 2021, he met Doosan again in the semifinals and went 2-for-14. In the four years leading up to Game 2 of the Korean Series, he was 3-for-45 in the postseason with a 6-for-7 batting average.
This year, he struggled at the end of the season.
From Sept. 30 against Doosan to the final game on Oct. 15, he went 7-for-34 with a 2-for-6 record in the final 10 games.
SBS commentator Lee Soon-cheol said, “In Game 1, there was an order to be aggressive and he tended to rush. In Games 1 and 2, her hitting points and timing weren’t bad. I think if we stay calm and do what we’ve been doing, we’ll get better. However, he said that it could be worse if he rushed because he was conscious of his poor postseason performance.
It’s hard to stay on top of your game if you’re constantly feeling the pressure of a big game. LG is returning to the Korean Series for the first time in 21 years and hopes to win its first title in 29 years. You can’t shake off the pressure with artificial prescriptions. The players have to overcome it themselves.
Fortunately, the Game 2 victory energized the team. It can also be a chance to restore confidence. Hong Chang-ki can’t carry LG Baseball alone.
They need three more wins to win the championship.