The LG Twins rode Kim Hyun-soo’s game-winning two-run homer to beat the Kiwoom Heroes for their third straight win.
LG won 5-3 against Kiwoom in the 2023 Shinhan Bank Solar KBO League at Jamsil Stadium on Nov. 11.
With its third straight win, LG (59 W, 2 D, 35 L) consolidated its lead at the top of the standings. Kiwoom (42W3D60L), which dropped to the bottom of the standings the day before, fell into a two-game losing streak and failed to climb out of last place.
LG’s Kim Hyun-soo hit a game-winning two-run homer (his fourth of the season) in the bottom of the eighth inning. Moon Bo-kyung added a leadoff solo home run (her sixth of the season).
Kiwoom starter Jang Jae-young pitched six innings, giving up four runs (one earned) on six hits with one walk and three strikeouts, his longest outing of his career. At the plate, Kim Dong-heon went 3-for-3 with an RBI.
Both starting pitchers were strong in the first inning.
LG’s Casey Kelly worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the first inning and ended the top of the second with a triple play, then gave up a single to Kim Dong-heon in the top of the third but retired Kim Jun-wan on a flyout.
After keeping the first and second innings scoreless, Jang Jae-young allowed Kim Min-sung to reach on an error at shortstop in the top of the third and gave up a sacrifice bunt to Park Hae-min. But he got Hong Chang-ki to ground out to first base and Moon Sung-joo to fly out to right field to get out of the jam.
LG broke the silence in the bottom of the fifth.
Leadoff hitter Moon Bo-kyung hit a 131-kilometer-per-hour curveball from Jang Jae-young for a solo home run over the right field fence.
Park Dong-won followed with a double and Kim Min-sung led off with a sacrifice bunt and advanced to third on Park Hae-min’s grounder to shortstop. Shortstop Kim Hwijip threw home, but Park Dong-won was quick.
Park then stole second base, and Moon Sung-ju exploded for a run-scoring double.
Kiwoom answered right back.
In the top of the sixth, a walk by Jeon Byung-woo, a single by Kim Dong-heon, and a walk by Kim Jun-wan loaded the bases with no outs, and Kim Hye-sung hit a single that landed next to the center fielder.
With the bases loaded, Ronnie Dawson drew a walk and scored on a wild pitch, and Song Sung-moon added a sacrifice fly to tie the game.
In a tightly contested game, Choo tipped the scales in LG’s favor with a home run.
In the bottom of the eighth, Hong Chang-ki singled and Jung Joo-hyun’s sacrifice bunt put runners on first and second. With the bases loaded, Kim Hyun-soo took a 134-kilometer-per-hour slider from Kiwoom reliever Moon Sung-hyun for a towering two-run home run. LG took a 5-3 lead.
In the top of the ninth, LG closer Go Woo-seok got a triple play to end the inning. Ko earned his 10th save of the season, the sixth time in his career that he has reached double-digit saves in five consecutive seasons. In Suwon, the NC Dinos defeated the KT Wiz 7-3.
NC snapped a six-game losing streak against KT and reclaimed third place (50-1-44).
KT, which had moved up to third place after knocking NC off the top spot on the previous nine days, had its four-game winning streak snapped with the loss, dropping back to fourth place (51-2, 45-44).
NC starter Shin Min-hyuk picked up his fourth win of the season (5-0) with five innings of three-hit ball, one walk and four strikeouts.
NC’s Kwon Hee-dong went 2-for-5 with a grand slam and two RBIs, while Park Gun-woo was 2-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs.
KT starter Wes Benjamin fell victim to NC’s offense, allowing five runs (four earned) on eight hits with one walk and two strikeouts in five innings to suffer his fifth loss of the season (11-1).
NC jumped on Benjamin in the first inning.
After singles by Son Asub, Park Gun-woo, and Jason Martin loaded the bases, Kwon Hee-dong drew a nine-pitch walk against Benjamin. Yoon Hyung-jun singled up the middle to put runners on first and second.
NC got on the board first in the second inning. After Park Se-hyuk led off with a single to left and reached second on a wild pitch, Park Gun-woo, who had a chance to steal second, hit a timely double.
Park added another run in the fourth inning with a single to left-center field to make it 4-0.
Trailing 5-0, KT got one run back in the sixth inning when Ahn Chi-young singled to right with runners on first and third.
However, NC took the lead in the top of the seventh with a home run by Martin. Martin took advantage of a fastball from KT reliever Kim Young-hyun and launched a solo shot to right field (his 11th of the season).
KT cut the deficit to 3-6 in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by pinch-hitter Park Byung-ho and a wild pitch, but it wasn’t enough to turn the game around.
NC sealed the win in the bottom of the ninth on Martin’s sacrifice fly to right field with the bases loaded. In literature, the Samsung Lions held on for a 5-4 win over the SSG Landers.
Samsung (41W1D56L) jumped one spot to eighth place with its second straight win. Second-place SSG (53W1D41L) dropped further to six games behind leader LG.
Trailing 0-2, Samsung tied the game in the fourth inning with runners on second and third on Jose Pirela’s double to left-center field.
In the fifth, Lee Jae-hyun’s solo shot to left-center (his 10th of the season) and Koo Ja-uk’s RBI double to left-center made it 4-2.
Not giving up, SSG tied the game again in the bottom of the eighth.
Park Sung-hyun doubled to center and Kim Sung-hyun singled to left to cut the deficit to one run, and with runners on first and second, Kim Min-sik lined a single to right field, allowing pinch runner Kim Sung-hyun to come home.
But Samsung rallied again.
Tied 4-4 in the top of the ninth against SSG closer Seo Jin-yong, Kang Wool and Oh Jae-il hit back-to-back singles and Lee Jae-hyun drew a walk to load the bases.
With one out, Kim Hyun-joon’s grounder to shortstop allowed the runners to rush home for the final run.
In the bottom of the ninth, Samsung reliever Oh Seung-hwan retired Kim Kang-min and Choi Joo-hwan on consecutive pitches and struck out Choi Jung to preserve the one-run victory.
Samsung starter David Buchanan gave up two runs on nine hits in six innings, but was unable to add a win to his record. Samsung’s fifth pitcher, Jang Pil-joon, pitched ⅓ inning of scoreless relief.
Seo Jin-yong suffered his second loss of the season (1-31) after giving up one run on two hits in one inning. In the resignation, the Lotte Giants thumped the KIA Tigers 7-1.
With their second straight win, seventh-place Lotte (46-50) closed the gap to sixth-place KIA (44-2-45) to 1.5 games.
Lotte starter Aaron Wilkerson earned his second win of the season with six innings of six-hit, five-strikeout ball.
The offense pounded out 12 hits, including two home runs, to ease Wilkerson’s shoulders.
Ahn Chi-hong went 3-for-4 with a solo shot in the first inning, while Son Sung-bin was 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs.
In the top of the first inning, Ahn Chi-hong fought a 10-pitch battle with KIA starter Thomas Pannoni and launched a solo shot to left field (his fifth of the season). In the second inning, Jung-hoon added another run with a solo home run to left (his fourth of the season).
With a 2-0 lead, LOTTE added another run in the fifth inning when Ahn Chi-hong singled and reached on an error by the center fielder. In the sixth, RBI singles by Kim Min-seok and Son Sung-bin put the game out of reach.
Panoni was saddled with his first loss of the season (2-2) after giving up three runs (two home runs) on seven hits in five innings.
The offense, which managed one run on nine scattered hits, and the defense, which committed three errors, left much to be desired. In Daejeon, the Doosan Bears defeated the Hanwha Eagles 11-4.
Fifth-place Doosan (49 wins, 1 loss, 45 ties) moved to within one game of fourth-place KT. Hanwha (38W5D52L), which has lost five straight, dropped to ninth place.
After scoring one run in the first and second innings, Doosan exploded for five runs in the third.
Kim Jae-ho singled up the middle, Jose Rojas doubled to right-center and Yang Seok-hwan walked to load the bases before Kim drew a bases-loaded walk off reliever Lee Tae-yang.
He then capitalized on an error to score a run, and with two outs, Heo Kyung-min hit a bases-loaded triple to silence Hanwha.
Doosan added another run in the bottom of the fourth on a grounder by Kang Seung-ho, and then scored three runs in the fifth to put the game out of reach.
Doosan starter Brandon Waddell improved to 5-2 on the season with six innings of five-hit ball, two walks, four strikeouts and one earned run.
Han Seung-hyuk was unable to avoid his third loss of the season, allowing five runs on five hits (one home run) with two walks and four strikeouts in two innings. 먹튀검증