Heavy rains nearly ruined the big day, but the heavens helped out.
Samsung Lions catcher Kang Min-ho set a KBO record, but he wasn’t smiling afterward. The entire team put in a disappointing performance in the loss.
Samsung lost 1-18 against the LG Twins in the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on Monday. Samsung wrapped up a three-game series against LG in Jamsil with a 1-1 tie and two losses. They were unable to carry over the momentum from their opening two wins.
Starter Lee Seung-min struggled, throwing 97 pitches in four innings, allowing eight hits (one home run), one walk, two strikeouts, and six runs. He was able to keep the game scoreless through the second inning, but faltered after the home run in the third. Lee Jae-ik, who came on in the fifth inning, gave up six runs on nine hits in two innings. While the game was affected by the heavy rain, the LG mound was not the only one that was hit by the rain.
The bats also struggled. While LG pounded out 25 hits, Samsung managed just five. Samsung had runners on first and second with nobody out in the top of the second inning after McKinnon singled and Kang Min-ho reached on an error, but after Oh Jae-il grounded into a double play, they were unable to capitalize on the ensuing runners on first and third.
Samsung failed to capitalize on a leadoff single by Ahn Joo-hyung in the top of the third inning. Then, down 0-4 in the fourth inning, the team had two runners on base after a walk to leadoff hitter McKinnon, a single by Kang Min-ho, and a walk to Byung-woo Jeon. In the end, Samsung gave up two runs in the fourth, three more in the fifth, and five in the sixth to lose the game for good.
The rain nearly derailed Samsung’s record-setting day. Catcher Kang Min-ho became the first player in baseball to reach the 2238-game milestone, but the game was 사설토토 almost canceled due to rain in the fourth and fifth innings. However, the game continued without interruption despite the heavy rain, and Kang’s record was completed in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Kang Min-ho stood in front of the fans during the cleanup period after the bottom of the fifth inning and was congratulated for reaching the milestone. He was also congratulated by KBS N commentator Park Yong-taek, the KBO’s all-time leader in games played (2237). However, the team’s big defeat prevented him from smiling.