There were no prodromal symptoms either. That’s why Lee Yong-chan (34, NC Dinos)’s ‘Sunday Nightmare’ was even more shocking.

NC lost 3-5 in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League home game against Lotte Giants held at Changwon NC Park on the 23rd. As a result, NC lost all 3 matches on the weekend and suffered 5 consecutive losses.

NC, which gave up all two games with Lotte, had to catch the last game unconditionally. The last time NC suffered a three-game sweep against Lotte was in July 2017, and the first series at home (April 2-4, 2013) was the last.

Starter Lee Yong-joon, who was fighting hard as a substitute starter, showed a good performance on this day as well. He dominated the Lotte batters until the 6th inning, not getting hit with a single hit. Kim Jin-ho and Lim Jeong-ho, who took the mound as relief, also blocked them without conceding until the 8th inning. In the meantime, NC tied Do Tae-hoon (2 times) and Kim Seong-wook (6 times)’s solo guns to score 3 points and take a 3-0 lead until the 8th inning.

At the beginning of the 9th inning, NC put the finisher Lee Yong-chan on the mound. Prior to the game on this day, he recorded an average ERA of 1.08 with 1 win and 3 saves in 8 games of the season. In particular, he continued to pitch ‘salty water’ to the extent that his on-base percentage per inning (WHIP) was only 0.48.

There was an element of anxiety. This is because the only loss of the season came against Lotte two days ago. At that time, Lee Yong-chan committed a wild throw after being hit by a double by Noh Jin-hyeok, and Han Dong-hee hit a sacrifice fly and allowed the score to tie 3-3. It was the first blown save of the season.

As soon as he took the mound, Lee Yong-chan allowed Hwang Seong-bin and An Chi-hong consecutive infield hits. Both of them went on an ambiguous course and saved the batter runner. After that, he was hit by a sharp hit in front of the right fielder by Jack Rex in the 4th, and was quickly put on the verge of being loaded safely.

Lee Yong-chan had a 3-ball -1 strike against his old teammate Roh Jin-hyeok, and was driven to an unfavorable ball count, eventually토토사이트 giving up a push walk and contributing a point. Then, the next batter, Jeon Jun-woo, was hit by the third baseman and allowed an infield hit that bounced off, and shortstop Kim Joo-won’s throwing error eventually tied the score 3-3.

Shaking Lee Yong-chan made his first out count by catching Han Dong-hee with a floating ball from second baseman, but was driven back to the bases full situation by giving Jung-hoon an intentional 4 ball. In the end, the lead was taken away by Yoon Dong-hee’s push walk in the 9th, and Hwang Seong-bin’s 1 RBI and timely hit came out, giving 5 runs only in the 9th inning, and barely finished the inning. The batting line failed to score at the end of the ninth inning, and Lee Yong-chan became a losing pitcher.

On this day, Lee Yong-chan recorded 5 hits, 3 runs, and 5 runs in 1 inning, recording his first loss of the season, while his ERA rose to 5.79. What made his pitching even more shocking was that it was rare to see such a collapsed game before.

On the 23rd, Lee Yong-chan recorded the most hits, walks, and runs at the same time after transferring to NC. In addition, it is the first time that he scored more than 5 runs in a game as a relief pitcher after entering the pro in 2007, and the previous two 4-run games during the Doosan days (against Jamsil LG on April 10, 2009, against Jamsil SK on September 3, 2009). ) exceeded.

Until this three-game series, Lee Yong-chan and Seo Jin-yong (SSG) were running as two top closers in the KBO League at the beginning of this season. In this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), when the pitching staff was shaken, he threw a perfect pitch with 6 strikeouts in 3 innings in 2 games.

Lee Yong-chan did not allow a run in 7 games after the opening, and he did not give up a single hit except for the Incheon SSG game on the 16th. Lee Yong-chan’s presence, who deleted the 9th inning, was reassuring from the NC’s point of view, which is a difficult game with many injured players.

That’s why the sluggish performance on the 23rd was even more shocking. Still, Lee Yong-chan is a veteran. It is a fate to put bad memories behind and step forward to protect the back door of NC again.