The Samsung Lions, backed by their trusty Won Tae-in, suffered their first three-game loss of the second half of the season after rain forced the starter to leave the mound early.
In the second game of a three-game weekend series against the NC Dinos at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on Sunday, Samsung eventually collapsed in the third inning and lost 1-5 in a game that was suspended by rain for a whopping 88 minutes after the end of the second inning.
With Lee Jae-ik coming on in the third inning to replace Won Tae-in, whose shoulder had cooled down due to the rain, Samsung immediately conceded two runs and suffered its third consecutive game without a starting pitcher.
Won Tae-in, who started the game, was unable to prevent the team from losing for the third consecutive game as rain interrupted his start. After the bullpen kept the game scoreless through the middle innings, Samsung rallied to get one run back, but in the seventh inning, the trusty Kim Tae-hoon gave up two more runs, including a home run.
The bats quickly cooled off between subsequent bullpen days, and Samsung has been extremely unbalanced of late, scoring five runs while giving up 21, including a scoreless game during their three-game losing streak.
Won Tae-in also pitched a scoreless inning on the 22nd of last month before being removed from the mound after a lengthy rain delay, but the difference was that the bullpen stepped up and the team won. In his last start, on the 27th, the game itself was delayed by rain, but Won took the mound with ease and pitched seven scoreless innings to earn the win.
While the amount of rain was significant, the decision to go ahead with the game was understandable for Samsung and the KBO, who were under pressure to play a nine-game series, including a doubleheader with a Monday game the following week, if the rainout was canceled, which meant a third consecutive bullpen day for Samsung, leading to a loss.
After the first two games of the three-game series were canceled due to rain in the middle of last week, Samsung was forced to play with a bullpen for the third straight day, starting with the last game’s starter, Widener, who was unable to make a sudden appearance due to illness, and ending with Choi Chae-heung, who had yet to win a game since his retirement, collapsing early in the first game against NC.
With even the trusted Won Tae-in unable to throw long, Samsung turned to its weakest link, the bullpen, for the third game in a row and saw its late-season surge stall.
While the two previous rainouts ended in team victories, this time it was a team loss, and Samsung falls to its first three-game losing streak of the second half of the season.
For Samsung, whose starters’ solid performances have been the team’s main source of reliability, the need for them to recover has grown, and the sense that failure to end the losing streak could see them swap places with ninth-placed Kiwoom and 10th-placed Hanwha.
Unable to assure its dominance in the bottom half of the standings, Samsung is looking to turn things around ahead of the upcoming seven-game series by starting its ace Buchanan.토토사이트
Buchanan, who had caused concern before his last start by complaining of biliousness in his back, appeared to be back to full strength as he pitched and batted for his twin sisters in the second game.
With an 8-6 record and a 2.91 ERA, Buchanan was the team’s only double-digit starter and led the team in innings pitched with over 142.
Taking the mound with the responsibility of getting the team a win and snapping a losing streak, Buchanan has been a bit vulnerable going into the weekend’s games, especially in game two, where he is winless in four appearances.
The final game of the three-game weekend series against NC will be the first Sunday game of September at 2:00.