It is enough to wear the title of ‘filial piety foreign hitter’.
The LG Twins won a 1-0 victory thanks to foreign hitter Austin Dean (30)’s one RBI final hit at the end of the first inning in a home game against Kiwoom Heroes of the ‘2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League’ held at Jamsil Stadium on the 11th.
LG took the winning series with Kiwoom and 2 wins and 1 loss in 3 consecutive matches during the week. The season record was 20-12, following SSG Landers, the sole leader, and the second among 10 clubs to reach 20 wins this year. On the other hand, Kiwoom stayed at 14-19.
On this day, LG secured victory by keeping one point from the bottom of the first inning until the ninth inning. The main character of the first run was Austin, a foreign hitter who has recently shown a terrifying sense of hitting. He did not miss a single opportunity that came in the bottom of the first inning.
In the bottom of the first inning, lead hitter Hong Chang-gi hit a double to the right of the right fielder, creating a scoring opportunity at once. Afterwards, Moon Seong-joo withdrew with a hit, but Kim Hyun-soo recorded an infield base hit and moved Hong Chang-ki to third base.
Austin entered the plate with a second out and third base chance. Against Kiwoom starting pitcher Jeong Chan-heon, he pulled a fastball with a speed of 137 km per hour in the first pitch and hit the left at the right time with 1 RBI. With Austin’s first RBI, LG succeeded in suppressing the baseline and was able to take the initiative throughout the game.메이저놀이터
Starting pitcher Lim Chan-gyu did his part as a starting pitcher by blocking Kiwoom’s batting line without conceding until the 6th inning. He recorded 6 innings scoreless quality starts (QS · 6 innings or more and 3 earned runs or less), and showed the best performance, disregarding the title of substitute starter.
LG maintained its lead until the middle of the game thanks to Austin’s first-running RBI at the end of the first inning and good pitching by starting pitcher Lim Chan-gyu. Afterwards, Pil Seung-jo, led by Yoo Young-chan, Ham Deok-joo, and Park Myeong-geun, kept a one-point lead until the ninth inning and won the final 1-0.
Austin’s first run in the bottom of the first inning was recorded as the winning run. Austin’s recent rise has been steep. He got a hit in all six games he appeared in in May. His batting average for the month of May was a whopping 0.417. His season batting average also rose to 0.364. He even moved up the league RBI ranking by one notch. Austin added 1 RBI in the game that day, recording 26 RBIs for the season. He tied for second in the league in RBIs with SSG Guillermo Heredia (26 RBIs). The difference between first place Kiwoom Edison Russell (28 RBIs) is only ‘2’.
Until last year, LG, which was always caught at the decisive moment with ‘foreign hitter cruelty’. It is a look that is gaining momentum from Austin’s hard hitting at the beginning of the season.