'PS 7 at-bats, 1 hit' Hong Chang-ki 'finally' left off starting lineup → Oh Ji-hwan and Moon Sung-ju step up! LG's lineup on the brink revealed [Playoff Semifinals Game 3 On-Site]

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

The LG Twins, facing elimination after two consecutive losses, aim for a comeback at home in Jamsil. Manager Yeom Kyung-yeop (58), who has no more room to retreat, unveiled a starting lineup that excludes Hong Chang-ki (33).

LG will face the KIA Tigers in Game 3 of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO Postseason Wild Card Series (best-of-five) at Seoul Jamsil Baseball Stadium at 6:30 p.m. on the 20th.

After losing Game 1 in Gwangju on the 17th, 1-5, and Game 2 on the 18th, 3-6, LG must win all three remaining games to advance to the Playoffs (PO). A loss today would mean ending the season with their final Jamsil home game.

LG set its batting order as Park Hae-min (center fielder) - Oh Ji-hwan (shortstop) - Austin Dean (designated hitter) - Song Chan-ui (left fielder) - Moon Bo-kyung (third baseman) - Moon Jeong-bin (first baseman) - Moon Sung-ju (right fielder) - Park Dong-won (catcher) - Koo Bon-hyuk (second baseman). The starting pitcher is Carlos Karasuko (39).

The most notable change is the exclusion of Hong Chang-ki, a former batting champion, from the starting lineup. Facing free agency after this season, Hong struggled in the regular season with a .239 batting average (99 hits in 415 at-bats) in 128 games, 33 RBIs, 69 runs scored, and an OPS of 0.659. He has also failed to shake off his slump in the postseason, managing just 1 hit in 7 at-bats with 2 strikeouts across three games: the Wild Card Series and Games 1 and 2 of the Playoffs Semifinals.

In his place, Moon Sung-ju, who recently returned from injury, took the right field position. Moon recorded a .284 batting average (61 hits in 215 at-bats), 1 home run, 21 RBIs, 17 runs scored, and an OPS of 0.693 in 76 games this year.

Shin Min-jae, who injured his left hamstring in the Wild Card Series, was also left off the starting lineup. Super utility player Koo Bon-hyuk filled that spot. Conversely, Oh Ji-hwan, dealing with a partial tear of the medial collateral ligament in his left knee, started at shortstop.

Karasuko earned the win in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series against the Doosan Bears on the 14th, pitching 6 innings while allowing 4 hits and 1 run. Leveraging the experience of a veteran with 112 career Major League wins, he led LG to the Playoffs Semifinals stage.

The LG lineup managed only 4 total runs in the first two games. In Game 1, Song Chan-ui's (27) lead-off solo home run was the only score. In Game 2, they hit 9 singles but scored just 3 runs. Notably, in Game 2, they made a change by placing Park Hae-min (36) in the leadoff spot and moving Song Chan-ui up to second in the order. However, excluding Hong Chang-ki (33) from the starting roster and sending Lee Jae-won (27) out as right fielder did not result in the expected recovery of scoring power.

The KIA starter facing LG is Keisuke Shirakawa (25). He struggled against LG this season, going 0-1 with a 7.71 ERA in two games. For the LG lineup, this is an opportunity to recover their offensive output after being shut down by James Neal (33) and Adam Ottavino (32) previously.

This is Game 3, played on the brink of elimination. Attention is focused on whether LG can break its 9-game losing streak against KIA with Karasuko's strong pitching and a changed lineup.

<© STARNEWS. All rights reserved. No reproduction or redistribution allowed.>

*This content was translated by AI.View Original