‘Defending champions’ SSG Landers are coming from behind ahead of the regular season finale.
SSG rode an explosive batting line-up, including a three-run homer by Han Yoo-seom, to a 10-5 victory over the NC Dinos of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on Thursday.
With the win, fifth-ranked SSG, which has won four straight games, is one step closer to punching its ticket to autumn baseball.
SSG also moved to within one game of third-place NC and the Doosan Bears in the standings.
NC took the lead in the top of the fourth inning when Son Ah-seop doubled and came home on a sacrifice fly by Park Gun-woo.
However, SSG responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning on a Guillermo Heredia double and an infield single by Han Yoo-seom.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, SSG scored six runs on four hits and two walks, including a three-run homer by Han Yoo-seom, to take a commanding 8-1 lead.
NC took advantage of an SSG error in the top of the sixth to score three runs, including a two-run double by Kwon Hee-dong.
However, SSG answered in the bottom of the seventh when Han Yoo-seom hit another RBI double to make it 10-4.
Han went 4-for-4 with a home run and six RBIs.
SSG starter Kim Kwang-hyun pitched six innings, allowing four runs (one earned) on seven hits, and was supported by his bats.
With the win, Kim became the eighth pitcher in the KBO to reach 2,000 innings since his debut in 2007.
NC, which has lost five straight games, is now in a position where even third place is in doubt.
In Daegu, the eighth-ranked Hanwha Eagles defeated the ninth-ranked Samsung Lions 11-7.
Hanwha scored the first two runs of the game in the top of the first inning when Samsung starter Kim Seo-joon walked four batters.
After an offence change, Kang Min-ho singled and Jose Pirela followed with a two-run homer to cut the deficit to 3-2.
However, Hanwha tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the second on a wild pitch with runners on first and third and scored two runs on two groundouts with the bases loaded to take a 5-3 lead.
In the third inning, Chae Eun-sung’s RBI double made it 7-4, and in the top of the fifth, back-to-back RBI singles by Lee Jin-young and Choi In-ho were followed by a two-run double by Lee Myung-gi to make it 10-4.
Samsung scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh, including a solo home run by Ahn Ju-hyung, but could not overturn the deficit.
In Suwon, where a doubleheader was played, the KIA Tigers won the first game 10-2, but the KT Wiz won the second game 3-2.
KIA scored three runs in the second inning of game one, including a two-run homer by Kim Do-young.
KT got one back in the bottom of the third on an Anthony Alford RBI single, but KIA scored two runs in the top of the fourth on a Socrates Brito double and a Lee Woo-sung RBI single to take a 5-1 lead.
In the sixth inning, they took advantage of four hits and two walks, including a two-run double by Ko Jong-wook, to score five runs and take a commanding 10-1 lead.
In game two, KT took an early lead.
KT opened the scoring in the top of the first inning with an RBI single by Alford, then scored two runs on four consecutive hits in the third inning to take a 3-0 lead.
KIA scored two runs in the top of the fourth on a solo home run by Socrates, but could not get any closer.
Second-place KT, which snapped a three-game losing streak, moved to within three games of third-place NC and Doosan.
LG Twins, who clinched the regular season title, edged out the Lotte Giants 7-6 in Busan.
Lotte took advantage of an error in the bottom of the second inning to take the lead, and took a 3-0 lead in the third when Jeon Jun-woo hit a two-run homer into the outfield stands.
LG got two runs back in the top of the fourth on a Park Dong-won single and a Moon Sung-joo sacrifice fly.
In the sixth, Oh Ji-hwan tied the game at 3-3 with an RBI single, then scored two runs with runners on first and second on Kim Min-sung’s single to left and Shin Min-jae’s sacrifice fly to take a 5-3 lead.
Lotte answered in the bottom of the eighth with an RBI double by Noh Jin-hyuk and a two-run homer by Yoo Kang-nam to make it 6-5.
However, LG scored two runs on three hits in the top of the ninth to take the lead for good. 토토사이트