When any team is on a winning streak, there’s a common phrase players say. “Even if we’re losing, it doesn’t feel like we’re losing.” SSG is playing the opposite kind of baseball these days. They’ve been playing a series of games where they don’t seem to be losing even when they’re ahead.
The three-game series against LG in Jamsil over the past 16 days, including a doubleheader, showed a pattern of recent SSG baseball.
SSG scored the first run in two of the three games, and took the lead at least once in each game, but each time they lost the lead in a close game, or gave up a lot of runs and completely lost the momentum.
On April 16, they scored four runs in the top of the sixth inning to knock off LG starter Casey Kelly, who was 0-3, but couldn’t get the win. After giving up eight hits in the top of the fifth, SSG brought in Oh Won-seok to face Ko Hyo-joon with runners on second and third, but a walk and two consecutive singles gave up four runs to cut the deficit to 4-7. SSG gave up three more runs in the next inning.
That pretty much sums up the outcome of the game. However, it’s worth noting that players coming out of the game often make moves they’re not confident in late in the game. For example, with a 4-3 lead and runners on second and third in the sixth inning, Ko Hyo-jun faced Park Hae-min and got two strikes before giving up a walk.
If the first half of the game was a back-and-forth affair, the team could have felt confident that they could have tied the game with a single hit from the pitcher, but they hovered just outside the borderline as if they were under the pressure of “one run=loss” and ended up getting themselves into a bigger trouble. It could be a consciousness that permeated the entire battery.
The doubleheader on the 17th was more of the same. SSG jumped out to a 2-0 lead in both Games 1 and 2, but it was more of a chase than a lead. They went 3-8 in game one and 5-9 in game two.
SSG has also been losing its “winning formula” in September, going 2-1-1 (.154) in 14 games. During this time, the team’s ERA has dropped to 6.91 and 메이저토토사이트 they’re 2-5 in seven games where they’ve scored first. They’re also winless in three games where their starting pitcher threw a quality start (6 innings or less).
It’s been a series of games where it’s been hard to figure out how to win. With the memories of a two-way battle for first place with LG a distant memory, SSG is in sixth place as of the 17th, half a game behind fifth-place KIA. They are no longer guaranteed a spot in the fall baseball standings. Can they rebound in the remaining 21 games?