Samsung Lions Suffer Shocking 4-Game Losing Streak: What Went Wrong?

[SPOTV News = Daegu, Reporter Kim Tae-woo] The Samsung Lions lost late leads in all three midweek games and slipped into a surprising four-game losing streak. They surrendered third place, and after another demoralizing come-from-behind loss, many Samsung fans left the stadium before the final out.

On April 23 at Daegu Samsung Lions Park, Samsung held a 2-1 lead entering the ninth inning but collapsed, allowing seven runs and falling 2-8 to SSG. By dropping the entire three-game series to SSG, Samsung fell to fourth place. The streak is painful, but the manner of the losses — and how the games unraveled — is what’s most concerning.

After an extra-innings defeat on the 21st, Samsung suffered another blown lead on the 22nd when closer Kim Jaeyun faltered in the ninth. With the skid stretching, the team desperately needed to find a way out.

On the 23rd, starter Jack Oraclin gave Samsung a chance, working six innings and allowing just one run. The offense produced single runs in the fourth and fifth to take a 2-1 edge. Both Miyaji and Kim Jaeyun were off that day, but SSG had also rested much of its late-inning corps after using the bullpen heavily over the previous two games.

Samsung got clean innings from Lee Seung-min in the seventh and Baek Jeong-hyun in the eighth, but the offense failed to add insurance runs and the lead remained precarious. With regulars Koo Ja-wook, Kim Sung-yun and Kim Young-woong already out, and Lee Jae-hyun placed on the injured list April 23 with a back strain, Samsung was effectively operating without four starters. Even though replacements have contributed, those absences are difficult to cover fully.

When SSG turned to its chase unit, Samsung needed to pad the lead by at least a run or two — and they didn’t. That pattern played out all three days. The anxiety became reality when right-hander Lee Seung-hyun, summoned to protect a one-run lead in the ninth, unraveled and allowed the comeback.

The turning point came when he yielded a big triple to leadoff hitter Choi Jeong. In a one-run game, failing to retire the leadoff man put Samsung in immediate jeopardy. With a runner on third and no outs, Eredia followed with a left-field RBI single to tie the game.

Lee induced a groundout from Kim Jae-hwan to record one out with a runner at second, but he then walked pinch-hitter Han Yoo-seom and surrendered a single to Oh Tae-gon. Right fielder Park Seung-gyu made a strong throw to nail Eredia at the plate and prevent a run, but the situation remained tense.

Lee then yielded another single to Lee Ji-young, and with two outs and the bases loaded, Choi Ji-hoon ripped a two-run double to the right-field fence, forcing Lee’s exit. It was still a two-run game with one more chance on offense; SSG had only No Kyung-eun available in its go-to bullpen.

But Yang Chang-seop, who relieved Lee, allowed an RBI single to Park Seong-han that pushed the lead to three. He then surrendered an opposite-field, three-run homer to An Sang-hyun, effectively putting the game out of reach. When the deficit swelled to six, fans who had clung to hope filtered out in large numbers — by Samsung’s final at-bat, the cheering had largely died down, a rare sight at recent Lions games.

Samsung’s once-potent lineup has developed holes, and the bullpen that held up early in the season is beginning to waver. Starters have struggled to eat innings, increasing the burden on relievers and exposing the roster’s depth issues. Though it’s still early in the season, the team will be eager to stop the slide when it opens a three-game series against Kiwoom at Gocheok on April 24.