Strong scoring support, experienced crisis management…CHAN KYU met the requirement for 11 wins
LG Twins pitcher Chan-kyu Lim has a chance to record his 11th win of the season with plenty of offensive support.
Lim started the second game of a doubleheader against the SSG Landers of the 2023 KBO League regular season at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Sunday, allowing two runs on six hits with one walk and four strikeouts over five innings. He left the mound in the sixth inning with his team leading 9-2 and fulfilling the winning pitcher requirement. His fastball reached a high of 146 mph on the day, keeping his season ERA at 3.69. If he clinches the start and reaches 11 wins, he will tie his career high set in 2018.
Im’s pitching was anything but cool on this day. His pitch count reached 39 pitches in the first inning. After the first inning, he gave up four consecutive hits to Choi Joo-hwan, Choi Jeong, Han Yoo-seom, and Park Sung.메이저사이트
But he didn’t collapse. He struck out the next batter, Ha Jae-hoon, to give himself a breather, and then struck out Kim Sung-hyun to end the inning. Even in crunch time, he didn’t overcommit and skillfully used his changeup to keep his opponent off balance.
After retiring the side in order in the second inning, Lim Chan-gyu found himself in trouble again in the third. It started with a leadoff double to Choi Jung down the left field line. He then gave up a wild pitch to Han Yoo-seom and a walk to Park Sung-gwan after a nine-pitch battle. Just like in the first inning, the bases were loaded again.
Lim Chan-kyu, who gave up one run in the first inning, gave up another. With the bases loaded, he threw three consecutive curveballs to Ha Jae-hoon and allowed a single to right. However, the next batter, Kim Sung-hyun, induced a grounder in front of the first baseman to get the out at home, and then induced a grounder in front of the third baseman to Ahn Sang-hyun to end the inning. The solid defense helped, but it was also the distribution of Im Chan-kyu who stuck with his pitches until the end.
After Lim retired the side in order in the fourth inning, the offense exploded. LG took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the third with back-to-back RBI singles from Kim Hyun-soo, Austin Dean, and Moon Bo-kyung, and then added four more runs in the top of the fourth. A solo home run by Heo Do-hwan, followed by a sacrifice fly by Kim Hyun-soo, a triple by Austin, and a groundout by Moon Bo-kyung gave Im a commanding lead. LG added two more runs in the fifth inning to solidify its lead.
Due to the high pitch count in the first inning, Im’s pitch count had already reached 94 pitches by the fourth inning, but he remained on the mound for the fifth inning. With 11 wins on the line, it was worth a shot, and he delivered. After getting the most difficult hitter in the fifth, Choi Jung, on a foul fly in three pitches, Im struck out the next batter, Han Yoo-seom, on a six-pitch swinging strikeout. Park Sung-seong followed with a two-pitch grounder to end the game. Im Chan-kyu handed the mound over to Baek Seung-hyun in the sixth inning to finish the day’s work.