Foreign pitchers take the mound in Game 4 of the best-of-five playoffs (PO-5) with the fate of their teams on their shoulders.
Samsung Lions manager Park Jin-man and LG Twins manager Yoon Kyung-yup announced Denny Reyes and Detrick Enns as their starting pitchers for Game 4 after Game 3 of the 2024 Shinhan SolBank KBO Postseason (PS) PO at Jamsil Stadium on Sunday.
Samsung won both Game 1 and Game 2 at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, but LG won Game 3 at Anbang to set up a best-of-five series.
Reyes, who started Game 1 of the best-of-seven series on April 13, will return to the mound on four days’ rest.
Samsung went with a three-man starting rotation in the POs after losing regular-season ace Connor Seabold to a shoulder injury.
Initially, the plan was to give Reyes and Won Tae-in, who started Games 1 and 2 of the PO, three days of rest and use them for Games 4 and 5.
However, Game 2 of the POs was postponed due to rain on Thursday, giving them an extra day of rest.
Reyes pitched 26 games in the regular season, throwing 144 innings in 11 starts with a respectable 11-4 record and 3.81 ERA.
In Game 1 of the PO,
Reyes pitched a gem that made you forget about Connor’s absence. He pitched 6⅔ innings, allowing four hits (one home run), one walk, two strikeouts, three runs, and one earned run in Samsung’s 10-4 victory.
He was able to hold the LG bats to one run through the sixth inning, although a fielding error after the changeup increased the deficit to three.
With three days of rest, 토토사이트 Reyes will look to continue his dominance in Game 4 and secure Samsung’s spot in the best-of-seven Korean Series (KS-7).
Reyes was not bad against LG in the regular season this year, going 1-0 with a 3.60 ERA in two games.
Unlike the semi-playoffs (best-of-five, best-of-three), Enns will also be well-rested.
In the Semi-Ps, Enns had to pitch on three days’ rest, and the results were not pretty.
In Game 1 against KT Wiz on May 5,
Enns took the loss after allowing three runs on five hits (one home run) with six strikeouts and two walks in 5⅓ innings. He gave up one home run and two consecutive doubles.
In Game 4 of the semifinals on Sept. 9 on three days’ rest, Enns was shaky, giving up four runs on six hits (one homer) with two walks and four strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings.
Originally, Yoon had announced Enns as the starter for Game 2 of the POs, which was scheduled to be held on the 14th, but when it was pushed back a day due to rain, he switched to Son Ju-young.
This gave Enns a full eight days of rest after Game 4 of the semifinals.
While he didn’t pick up a win in his two appearances for Samsung this year, he pitched well with a 3.00 ERA in 12 innings and four runs allowed.
The question is whether a tired Enns will look different. He still has the task of saving LG, which is 1-2 and in danger of elimination.
However, rain is a factor. Rain is forecast for the Seoul area on the afternoon of the 18th.
If it rains, Game 4 of the POs will be pushed back a day and will be played at 2 p.m. on the 19th.