Lions pitcher Won Tae-in diagnosed with shoulder labrum injury after Korean Series outing

The Samsung Lions announced Saturday their starting pitcher Won Tae-in will miss the rest of the ongoing Korean Series with a shoulder labrum injury. Hours after losing to the Kia Tigers 9-2 in Game 4 of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) championship round at home in Daegu, the Lions said an MRI showed damage to the labrum in Won's right shoulder, along with bleeding inside the shoulder joint and rotator cuff tendinitis. According to the Lions, doctors recommended four to six weeks of rehab. The Tigers are trailing the Tigers 3-1 in the best-of-seven series, which will resume with Game 5 on Monday at the Tigers' home in the southern city of Gwangju. If healthy, Won, who tied for the regular-season lead with 15 wins, would potentially have been in line to pitch Game 7 on three days' rest if the series went the distance. In Saturday's game, Won was charged with six earned runs on six hits and three walks in only 2 1/3 innings. He threw 78 pitches to get those seven outs before asking a team trainer to come out to check him. Won struggled to command his pitches as well as he had during the regular season and in earlier postseason games. Despite his injury, Won is scheduled to stay with the team for the remainder of the Korean Series. The Lions had earlier lost their Opening Day starter Connor Seabold to a shoulder injury, while left-handed pitcher Baek Jung-hyun suffered a broken finger during a scrimmage when he was hit by a line drive. Captain Koo Ja-wook tweaked his knee in a steal attempt in the previous postseason series and hasn't played for over a week. Won's injury is also a big blow to the South Korean national team ahead of the World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 tournament next month. Source: Yonhap News Agency