“How could this happen?” MLB veteran with 112 wins shocks foreign investors, forced off after 1⅓ innings! Na Seong-beom’s solo home run followed by Kim Do-young’s grand slam — LG, on the brink of elimination, collapses in the second inning [JPO3 On-site Report]

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

The experience of a Major League (ML) career with 112 wins could not save the LG Twins, who were pushed to the brink. Carlos Karasco (39), their last hope, collapsed before completing two innings. Following Na Seong-beom’s (37) massive lead-off solo home run, Kim Do-young’s (23) grand slam also went deep, leaving Jamsil in shock.

Karasco started the third game of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO Postseason Junior Playoffs (JPO, best-of-five series) against the KIA Tigers at Seoul Jamsil Baseball Stadium on the 20th, but was removed after just 1⅓ innings.

It is an unbelievable result for LG. Having lost the first two games in Gwangju by scores of 1-5 and 3-6, respectively, LG would end their season if they lose today as well. After suffering a nine-game losing streak against KIA since the late regular season, they pinned their last hope on veteran foreign pitcher Karasco.

There were reasons to expect a good performance. Karasco recorded a 6-3 record with a 4.05 ERA in 11 games during this year’s regular season. In particular, in the first game of the Wild Card Series (WC) against the Doosan Bears on the 14th, he led the team to victory with six innings pitched, four hits allowed, and one run allowed, paving the way for their advancement to the JPO.

On the other hand, KIA starter Keisuke Shirakawa struggled in two regular-season games against LG, posting a 1-loss record and a 7.71 ERA. Judging solely by the recent head-to-head records and experience of the starting pitchers, it was a matchup where LG had reason to be optimistic.

However, once the game began, the exact opposite result unfolded. It looked ominous from the start. In the top of the first inning, Karasco allowed a walk to leadoff batter Park Jeong-woo after a nine-pitch at-bat. He got Park Jae-hyun to ground out to first base to record the first out, but then gave up a stolen base to second by Park Jae-hyun. Kim Do-young hit a large ball toward center field, but it was fortunately caught for an out. Karasco then retired Harold Castro on a groundout to second base, weathering the first crisis.

But the nightmare began immediately in the top of the second inning. Leadoff batter Na Seong-beom did not let go of a 147.9 km/h fastball from Karasco that was located in the middle of the plate. The ball, swung with full force, sailed well over the center field fence. It was a massive lead-off solo home run with a carry distance of 131.8 meters.

Karasco seemed to catch his breath by getting Kim Sun-bin to fly out to center field. However, the defense did not help him either. First baseman Moon Jung-bin failed to properly handle Han Jun-su’s ground ball, allowing the runner to reach base. Then, with an unfavorable count of 0 balls and 2 strikes, Kim Gyu-seong lifted Karasco’s forkball into a single down the middle.

He allowed a straight walk to Ha Ju-seok. In an instant, it was one out with the bases loaded. There was no more room for Karasco to back down. However, Park Jeong-woo hit a leadoff RBI single to left field, allowing KIA to score again. Ultimately, LG manager Yeom Kyung-yeop did not wait any longer. He made the decision to remove Karasco and bring in John Kennedy.

The problem was that even with Karasco’s removal, they could not stop KIA’s offense. Kennedy also allowed a leadoff single to left field by Park Jae-hyun. Then, Kim Do-young hit a grand slam home run over the left-center field fence. It was a massive home run with a carry distance of 145.8 meters and an exit velocity of 179.3 km/h. As a result, Karasco’s runs allowed ballooned to five.

The early removal of the starting pitcher, defensive errors, and allowing a grand slam home run by the relief pitcher — scenes LG would have wanted to avoid all came at once for the team on the brink of elimination.

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

*This content was translated by AI.View Original