By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, July 31 (Yonhap) -- LG Twins starting pitcher Im Chan-kyu had been in self-denial for much of July, telling himself he was not feeling any pressure to drag his struggling Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) club out of their summer swoon.

However, after Im notched his 10th win over the season Thursday night over the Kiwoom Heroes, emotions got the better of the 33-year-old. He realized he had been more stressed out about the team's recent plight than he wanted to admit.

The 5-3 victory at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, with Im holding the Heroes to three runs on five hits in six innings, secured the Twins their first series win since the mid-July All-Star break. They improved to 7-12-0 (wins-losses-ties) for July, still tied for the KBO's worst record for the month with one day left. The Twins endured their season-worst eight-game losing streak this month, with Im being the losing pitcher in two of those games.

"I suppose I was in denial all along. And when I saw our fans after the game and thought about how they stuck with us through all this, I became really emotional," said Im, who choked back on tears while addressing fans from the field. "I felt really sorry to our fans. I am sure they were just as upset and stressed out about our losing streak as us. And the win tonight stirred something inside me."

Im, who has been with the Twins since 2011, is no stranger to ups and downs over the course of a season. But he said this year's slide hit him particularly hard.

"I have felt really guilty about the losing streak because I felt like I failed to do what I was expected to do as a starting pitcher," Im said. "But I finally put it together in today's game. I had a really sharp focus the whole game."

In his two previous starts, Im had allowed 12 earned runs on 15 hits in eight innings combined, as his ERA rose from 3.78 to 4.53. And after Im allowed three runs on three hits in the top of the first inning Thursday, it appeared as if the recent downward trend would continue for the right-hander.

Instead, Im settled down and held the Heroes to just two more hits -- both singles -- over his next five frames. Im did not do anything spectacular, as he induced eight groundouts and five flyouts in the process.

"In those earlier games, I was trying to do too much and force the issue with my pitch sequence," Im recalled. "Today, I wanted to keep things simple but I ended up pitching not to get hit. It continued in the second inning, but in the third inning, I began pitching to contact. Hitters started making weak contact and that allowed me to go six innings."

With Im keeping the team in the game, the Twins hitters responded, with Austin Dean hitting a solo homer in the fourth and Song Chan-eui blasting a go-ahead three-run shot in the sixth.

"Pitchers have to be lucky to pile up wins, and I have been getting a ton of help from my teammates," Im said. "I know there are so many other numbers that evaluate pitchers now, but reaching double figures in wins still means something to starting pitchers. I am very grateful to reach that mark and I am proud of it."

jeeho@yna.co.kr

(END)

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