The season finale between the Lotte Giants and Kia Tigers has been postponed due to incessant rain. In the meantime, both teams made changes to their starting pitchers.
Lotte and Kia were scheduled to meet in the 16th and final game of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League season at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on Thursday. However, the rain, which began to fall in the afternoon, was a setback.
Lotte and Kia were unable to play a full game on the 13th. Initially, the matchup was scheduled to start at 6:30 am. However, due to the sudden onset of rain, the KBO decided to delay the start of the game by 40 minutes. The two teams played through the twists and turns of the game, but once again, rain interfered.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, with Lotte leading 3-1, the rain grew thicker and poured down to the point where the game could no longer be played. The umpires decided to stop the game and wait for the rain to subside. But to no avail. The downpour continued unabated, and after 46 minutes of waiting, the referees declared a ‘rain cold’.
Acting head coach Lee Jong-woon commented on the cold rain victory the day before, saying, “I don’t believe in God, but I think he gave us a chance. We were a little lucky because of the rain,” and coach Kim Jong-guk said, “I was looking forward to the second half of the game, but it was a little disappointing when it rained. I’m very disappointed,” he said.
The rain that had fallen the day before eased off around midnight, and there was no rain on the morning of the 14th. However, around 2 p.m., the raindrops began to fall little by little, and as time went on, the rain became thicker. At 5 p.m., as the amount of rain decreased, the water on the large tarp was removed and the game was prepared to start, but the rain soon poured down, and the KBO decided to cancel the game at 5:30.
Lotte announced Park Se-woong, the “Glasses Ace,” as their starting pitcher, and KIA announced Kim Ki-hoon, who was called up to the first team that day, as their starting pitcher. However, they were unable to play and made changes to their starting pitchers on the 15th. Instead of Park, Lotte will start Charlie Barnes against the Kiwoom Heroes, while KIA will send Yoon Young-cheol against the Doosan Bears.
Barnes has appeared in 25 games this season, posting a 9-8 record with a 3.37 ERA. While he hasn’t had much luck lately, he’s had five straight quality starts (six innings or less) and hasn’t been bad against the lefty-heavy Kiwoom, going 4-3 with a 3.38 ERA in 11 career starts.
Yoon Young-cheol, who was selected by KIA in last year’s draft, is in his first season in the league, but has already pitched 103 innings in 21 games with an 8-6 record and a 4.19 ERA. Against the Doosan, he made one start, a six-inning, three-run quality start, but was unable to get any support from the bats and took the loss.
For KIA, the rain has once again messed up their starting rotation a bit. Kim Ki-hoon, who has appeared in 28 games this year with two wins and a 3.45 ERA, had been preparing with the second team for his start on Thursday. “The rain complicates (the rotation) a lot,” said manager Kim Jong-kook. It would be good if Kim Ki-hoon pitched today and went through the rotation…” “He’s been pitching efficiently in the second team. He’s been pitching efficiently in the second team.”
“He was preparing to be a starter until the exhibition game, and he was also preparing for the date in the Futures League,” Kim Jong-kook continued, suggesting that Kim Ki-hoon might be used as a 1+1 with another pitcher in the future.토토사이트
On a brighter note, Mario Sanchez made a solid start to his comeback on Thursday, throwing a total of 50 pitches out of the bullpen. The starting rotation was disrupted by rain, but that could all be resolved when Sanchez returns. ”Sanchez threw two sets of 25 pitches, and there was no pain or abnormalities,” a KIA representative said. That’s good news for Kia.