It seemed so difficult.
The batters’ swings clearly slowed down, and well-hit balls fell short and were sucked into the gloves of opposing fielders.
This is the story of the NC Dinos, who enjoyed a strong rise in baseball this fall
but fell into two consecutive losses as their stamina reached its limit.
NC lost 2-11 to KT Wiz in the 4th game of the 2023 KBO postseason playoffs (best of 5) held at Changwon NC Park on the 3rd.
Starting pitchers Song Myung-ki (1.1 innings, 4 runs) and Lee Jae-hak (2.1 innings, 4 runs) were greatly shaken, and blunted offense was also a cause of the day’s defeat. 바카라사이트닷컴
NC’s batting line could not get a single hit or walk before Son Ah-seop hit a base hit with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning.
The only batter to reach base until the 5th inning was Son Ah-seop, who took advantage of KT third baseman Hwang Jae-gyun’s catching error to reach first base after hitting a ground ball in the bottom of the first inning.
Afterwards, while Lee Jun-ho (1.1 innings, no runs allowed), Lee Yong-jun (3 innings, 3 runs), and Kim Si-hoon (1 inning, no runs) guarded the mound to prevent the inevitable loss of the team, the NC batting line was Park Se-hyuk’s 1 RBI, timely hit to left, and Son A-seop’s 1 in the bottom of the 8th inning.
He only managed to make up for 2 runs with a timely hit to the RBI left. In this way, NC had to face a painful defeat.
In a way, the NC batting lineup’s poor performance is natural. NC had a fierce battle for third place with SSG Landers from the end of the regular season.
They fought with all their might in every game, and fall baseball continued without a break.
Regarding this, NC coach Kang In-kwon sighed and said, “We are actually playing the postseason for a month.”
NC defeated 5th place Doosan Bears and 3rd place SSG without a loss in the wild card game and semi-playoffs, respectively, and also performed well in the first and second playoff games held in enemy territory, sounding like a victory in both games.
However, in the meantime, the players’ stamina was slowly being depleted.
The fatigue of one fall baseball game is incomparable to that of a regular league game.
NC’s physical strength problem was further exacerbated when they lost 0-3 in the third game.
In the meantime, they were able to forget about this to some extent due to repeated victories, but from the moment they suffered their first defeat, extreme fatigue woke up even more and began to take hold of their ankles.
And in the fourth game, the players’ exhaustion could be seen everywhere.
The batters swung their bats one beat slower at the fastball of opposing starting pitcher William Cuevas, and in the top of the third inning with one out and one on second base, they showed poor defense due to Oh Yoon-seok’s missed single, causing a crisis with one out and second and third base.
Now the problem is the 5th game, which will be held at KT Wiz Park in Suwon on the 5th after a day of rest.
While the players are expected to have difficulties due to their still low stamina, it is also unclear whether right-handed foreign pitcher Eric Peddy will start.
This is because the condition is not 100% yet.
Peddie, who posted 20 wins, 6 losses, 209 strikeouts, and an ERA of 2.00 in 30 games (180.1 innings) in the regular league, is a super ace who summoned legendary former manager Sun Dong-yeol several times this year.
Representatively, he is the 5th player in 37 years and the 5th overall since former manager Sun Dong-yeol in 1986 (then Haitai Tigers, 24 wins, 214 strikeouts) (1983, Jang Myeong-bu, Sammi Superstars, 30 wins, 220 strikeouts, 1984 Choi Dong-won, Lotte Giants, 27 wins, 223 strikeouts).
He achieved 20 wins and 200 strikeouts in one season (Kim Si-jin, Samsung Lions in 1985, 25 wins, 201 strikeouts, and Dong-yeol Sun in 1986).
He also achieved the Triple Crown feat by ranking first in most wins, ERA, and strikeouts.
This was also a record achieved only by former coach Dong-yeol Sun, (Haitai, 1986, 1989-1991), Hyun-jin Ryu (Hanwha Eagles, 2006), and Seok-min Yoon (KIA Tigers, 2011).
However, the regular season ended poorly.
On the 16th of last month, in the Gwangju KIA Tigers game, he was hit on the right forearm by Ko Jong-wook’s batted ball.
Afterwards, he returned to the first game of the playoffs against KT and led NC to a 9-5 victory with 3 hits, 1 home run, 1 walk, 1 walk, 12 strikeouts, and 1 run in 6 innings, but it is said that his physical condition is not yet perfect.
Coach Kang In-kwon, who met after Game 4 of the playoffs, was asked about the starting pitcher for Game 5 and said, “Peddy’s condition has not recovered to 100%.
I am worried. Shin Min-hyuk is not bad either.
I will check my condition tomorrow morning (the 4th) and make a decision,” he explained.
Shin Min-hyuk, who posted 5 wins, 5 losses, and an ERA of 3.98 in the regular league, is a right-handed pitcher who has shown further improvement by recording 1 win and an ERA of 0.00 (12 scoreless innings) in two appearances in this fall baseball season.
Although he is an attractive card, it is true that he has less weight compared to Pedi.
He is already an NC player who deserves a lot of applause for his brilliant performance and fighting spirit in baseball this fall.
Will they be able to overcome these negative factors, write their own story, and put an end to ‘Autumn Fairy Tale’ in the Korean series?