‘Lose-lose-lose’ defending champs fall, ‘9 out of 12’ Choi Jeong-Han Yusum is all we see
The SSG Landers were unable to come back to win the game, and their “fall baseball” came to an end.
SSG lost 6-7 in the third game of the best-of-five semifinals of the 2023 KBO postseason at Changwon NC Park on Nov. 25. The team traveled to Changwon on a cliffhanger after losing the first game 3-4 and the second game 3-7 at home in Incheon. Choi Jeong-jeong hit the game-winning home run, but it was not enough.
SSG, last year’s unified champions, ended their season without winning a single semi-playoff series this year. Han Yoo-seom was hitting consistently and Choi was making a name for himself. 먹튀검증 The problem was, they were the only ones.
Choo Shin-soo (designated hitter), Guillermo Heredia (center field), Choi Jung (third base), Han Yu-seom (right field), Ha Jae-hoon (left field), Park Sung-hyun (shortstop), Kim Sung-hyun (second base), Oh Tae-gon (first base), and Kim Min-sik (catcher) made up the batting order.
SSG had a scoring chance in the first inning when Choo Shin-soo singled to right. Heredia flied out to second and Choi flied out to left, but Han Yoo-seom singled to right to put runners on second and third. However, Ha Jae-hoon flied out to shortstop to end the threat.
After the chance, the crisis followed and the lead was lost. Oh Won-seok gave up three runs. With runners on first and second, he induced Park Gun-woo to hit a grounder in front of the third baseman, but gave up consecutive singles to Jason Martin, Kwon Hee-dong and Seo Ho-cheol.
With one out in the bottom of the second, Kim Sung-hyun singled up the middle and Oh Tae-gon followed with a single to left. After Kim Min-sik struck out swinging, Choo Shin-soo drew a walk to put runners on first and second.
With the bases loaded, Heredia drew a walk to make it 1-3. In the next at-bat, Choi Jeong-jeong hit a walk-off home run.
SSG lost the lead again in the bottom of the second inning. After Oh Won-seok gave up a walk to Park Min-woo with runners on first and second, the team decided to bring in Noh Kyung-eun. However, Noh gave up a single to Park Gun-woo and a three-run home run to Martin.
In the third inning, the first batter, Ha Jae-hoon, drew a walk. Park Sung-hyun grounded out to third against reliever Lee Jae-hak, and Kim Sung-hyun and Oh Tae-gon followed with back-to-back singles. The SSG bench sent Choi Ji-hoon to pinch-hit for catcher Kim Min-sik.
Choi Ji-hoon hit a grounder to shortstop with the bases loaded. With two outs in the top of the fourth, Choi Jeong-jeong drew a walk and Han Yoo-seom hit a timely double to cut the deficit to one, but SSG could not score any more runs.
SSG had a difficult time in the first game, conceding the lead in each game. In Game 1, Choi Jeong’s sacrifice fly (1 run) and Ha Jae-hoon’s home run (2 runs), in Game 2, Han Yusum’s two home runs (3 runs), and in Game 3, Choi Jeong’s home run (4 runs) and Han Yusum’s RBI single (1 run).
Over the three games, the team scored 12 runs, with Choi and Han driving in nine. Choi was responsible for five runs and Han for four. Outside of Choi and Han, no one else made an impact.