Two wins away from 10.
LG Twins right-hander Im Chan-kyu started the 12th game of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League against the Samsung Lions on Saturday at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, South Korea, and pitched five innings of five-hit ball, striking out seven and giving up one run in the team’s 7-4 win.
Lim has been the leader of LG’s domestic starting staff this season, posting an 8-2 record with a 3.26 ERA in 20 games. He is now two wins away from his first double-digit win total in three years.
In the first inning, he got Kim Hyun-jun and Kim Sung-yoon to ground out to short. He gave up a single to Koo Ja-roo and a walk to Kang Min-ho, but struck out pinch-hitter Kim Tae-hoon.
The second inning started well. He got Kang to ground out to first base and Oh Jae-il to fly out to left field. However, he gave up a home run to Lee Jae-hyun for the first run of the game. He then got Kim Dong-jin to ground out to first base.
In the third inning, there was another crisis. Kim Hyun-joon walked and Kim Sung-yoon and Koo Ja-rook followed with consecutive singles. The bases were loaded and the game was in jeopardy. But he survived. Shin Min-jae got Kang Min-ho to ground out. He then struck out Kim Tae-hoon and Kang Kang-ul to erase the run. Lim Chan-kyu roared.
After turning the fourth inning into an easy three-hit shutout, Im struck out Kim Hyun-jun to lead off the fifth. He gave up a single to Kim Sung-yoon, but got Koo Ja-rook to fly out to shortstop and Kim Ho-jae to strike out swinging.
That was it for Im. He handed the mound over to Ham Deok-ju in the bottom of the sixth inning with his team leading 5-1. Lim finished the day with five innings of five-hit ball, three walks, seven strikeouts and one earned run.
He threw 101 pitches on the day. He threw 37 fastballs, two curves, 33 changeups, and four sliders. His fastball topped out at 145 mph.
Ham Deok-ju, Kim Jin-sung, Jung Woo-young, Yoo Young-chan, and Ko Woo-seok came in to pitch four innings of three-run ball to preserve the win for LG and Chan-gyu Lim. With the win, Lim improved to 8-0 on the season.
If it wasn’t for his performance, LG would have been swept by Samsung and traveled to Gwangju, but thanks to Im’s performance, the team snapped a two-game losing streak and traveled to Gwangju.
“There were a lot of crises in the beginning of the game, but he handled them well and fulfilled his role as a starter,” said LG head coach Yeom Kyung-yeop.메이저놀이터
After the game, Im said, “It’s great to end the team’s losing streak. It’s unfortunate that I couldn’t pitch more innings, but I feel like I did the minimum,” he said.
He continued, “I didn’t start the season thinking about 10 wins. The team’s hitting and good defense have given us a lot of wins without me having to pitch a lot of innings. It’s just my job to go out there and pitch as hard as the team needs me to pitch,” he concluded.