A botched umpiring call turned another great game into a nail-biter.
The LG Twins-SSG Landers game was played at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on April 21. LG took a 2-0 lead in the first inning thanks to Austin Dean’s two-run homer and held the lead until the seventh inning, but couldn’t score any more runs. SSG’s Roenis Elias pitched a no-hitter in the top of the third inning and completely shut down the LG bats in the top of the eighth.
After narrowly missing a two-out rally in the bottom of the seventh, SSG tied the game in the top of the eighth with a straight bunt single by Guillermo Heredia and a short double down the right field line by Choi Jeong in the third. Han Yoo-seom drew a straight bunt in the fourth to load the bases.
LG brought down Yoo Young-chan and brought up Baek Seung-hyun to face Park Sung-hyun, who had two hits on the day.
At 2B1S, Park Sung-hyun hit a four-pitch pitch hard. A quick line drive, the ball traveled down the first base line and hit first baseman Woo Hyo-dong in the abdomen. It happened in the blink of an eye. First baseman Kim Min-sung jumped to make the catch, but couldn’t, and first baseman Han Yoo-seom, who had led off, rushed back to first base as the ball flew toward first base, wondering if he would be caught.
However, the first base umpire, Woo Hyo-dong, who was hit by the ball, seemed to give a balk sign instead of making a clear call on whether it was a foul or fair. Meanwhile, Park Sung-ho stepped on first base. When the players asked the umpire what was going on, Woo calmed them down and went to the umpire to discuss, and from then on, the umpires agreed. After a long discussion, they decided it was fair. The umpires decided that the spot where Kim Min-sung hit the ball was fair. 레고토토
If it was fair, it would be in play. Of course, LG would lose a goal, so LG coach Yeom Kyung-yup immediately requested a video review. However, after three minutes of video review, there was no result. After 11 minutes of discussion, the conclusion was that the third baseman came home and scored, the second baseman went to third, but the first baseman, Han Yoo-seom, was ruled out because he had returned to first base. With 1-2 and runners on first and third, the next batter, Oh Tae-gon, stepped up to the plate.
Naturally, SSG coach Kim Won-hyung, who thought it was 1-2 and the bases loaded, immediately came out of the dugout to protest. In fact, everyone was thinking the same thing. The first base umpire’s first call was a dead ball, not a fair or foul. There would have been no problem if the umpire had made the call, played accordingly, and then asked for a video review of the call from the bench.