LG finally gets its "thousand soldiers and ten thousand horses" back, and another one arrives tomorrow (the 18th)! "Son Ju-young available from the second game of the semi-playoffs; Oh Ji-hwan rated as fine by the training staff" [Semi-Playoff Game 1 On-Site]

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

Yeom Kyung-yeop, the head coach of the LG Twins, expressed his determination ahead of Game 1 of the semi-playoffs (best-of-five series).

LG will play Game 1 of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO Postseason semi-playoffs against KIA at Gwangju-KIA Champions Field at 2 p.m. on the 17th.

After finishing the regular season in fourth place, LG defeated the Doosan Bears decisively in the Wild Card deciding match to advance to the semi-playoff stage. On the 14th, LG won the Wild Card deciding match Game 1 against Doosan at Jamsil Stadium with a score of 4-1, securing their spot in the semi-playoffs. Although they had to play the Wild Card series, they have taken two days of rest after playing only one game.

In response, KIA finished this year's pennant race in third place and secured an early berth in the semi-playoffs. After concluding their final regular season game against LG on the 12th, they took four days of rest before facing LG in their first fall baseball game of the year.

Before the game, Manager Yeom began by saying, "Oh Ji-hwan has recovered well overall. The training staff assessed that he is fine to start. It seems like he will be okay." He then added, "(Shin) Min-jae will likely struggle as a starter. However, it is possible for him to come in during the latter part of the game."

Regarding Son Ju-young, who missed the Wild Card series due to a sore throat and cough, he explained, "He did bullpen pitching today (the 17th), and it was not bad. If he is fine, I plan to deploy him as a middle reliever starting tomorrow (the 18th), and then try using him as the closer in subsequent games."

He added, "Today as well, we will proceed with the same approach (collective closing) without a designated closer."

Manager Yeom had previously emphasized at a press conference after the Wild Card series that "we must stop Kim Do-young well." On this day as well, when asked about Kim Do-young, Manager Yeom said, "First, I have spoken with the power analysis staff and coaching staff," smiled, and then stressed, "(Kim) Do-young must not have runners on base in front of him."

Meanwhile, on this day, LG set its starting batting order as follows: Hong Chang-gi (right fielder), Park Hae-min (center fielder), Austin Dean (designated hitter), Moon Jung-bin (first baseman), Moon Bo-kyung (third baseman), Song Chan-ui (left fielder), Oh Ji-hwan (shortstop), Park Dong-won (catcher), and Ku Bon-hyuk (second baseman). The starting pitcher is Tolerhurst.

This season, Tolerhurst posted a record of 12 wins and 11 losses with an ERA of 4.24. He pitched a total of 163⅓ innings, allowing 169 hits (including 16 home runs), issuing 36 walks, striking out 126 batters, and giving up 79 runs (77 earned). His WHIP was 1.26, and the batting average against him was 0.262. He achieved a quality start on 16 occasions this season. Against KIA this season, he appeared in five games with a record of 1 win and 3 losses and an ERA of 6.20. In a total of 20⅓ innings, he allowed 27 hits (including 2 home runs), issued 4 walks, had 1 hit batter, struck out 15 batters, and gave up 14 runs (14 earned). The batting average against him was 0.307.

In response, KIA set its starting batting order as follows: Park Jae-hyun (left fielder), Kim Sun-bin (designated hitter), Kim Do-young (third baseman), Castro (first baseman), Na Seung-beom (right fielder), Kim Gyu-seong (second baseman), Kim Ho-ryeong (center fielder), Kim Tae-goon (catcher), and Ha Ju-seok (shortstop). The starting pitcher is James Neal.

Neal appeared in 31 games this season, marking a record of 13 wins and 7 losses with an ERA of 3.49. Over a total of 183 innings, he allowed 175 hits (including 13 home runs), issued 38 walks, struck out 156 batters, and gave up 73 runs (71 earned). His WHIP was 1.16, and the batting average against him was 0.252. He achieved a quality start (six innings or more with three or fewer earned runs) on 20 occasions. Against LG this season, he appeared in three games with a record of 1 win and 1 loss and an ERA of 4.58. In a total of 17⅔ innings, he allowed 19 hits, issued 3 walks, had 3 hit batters, struck out 16 batters, and gave up 9 runs (9 earned). The batting average against him was 0.288.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original