Doosan wins by 1 point over Lotte… escaping 3-game losing streak
NC, beats Hanwha led by Ryu Hyun-jin, wins 4 games in a row
The KIA Tigers, the leader in professional baseball, are looking to solidify their lead by defeating the Samsung Lions, who are fighting for second place, for two consecutive days.
KIA won 10-4 against Samsung in the 2024 Shinhan Solbank KBO League match held at the Gwangju-Kia Champions Field on the 18th.
While this three-game series has garnered attention as a showdown between the 1st and 2nd place teams, KIA won the remaining two games, excluding the game on the 16th that was canceled due to rain. In addition to the three-game winning streak, it has also won five games in a row against Samsung.
KIA, which won its 54th game of the season (2 draws, 35 losses), widened the gap with LG Twins (49 wins, 2 draws, 42 losses), which fell to second place due to Samsung’s loss, to 6 games.
Samsung, with a record of 48 wins, 2 draws, and 42 losses, fell to third place, giving up second place to LG.
KIA took the lead in the firepower battle, hitting 16 hits. Leadoff hitters Seo Geon-chang and Choi Won-jun each had 2 hits and 2 RBIs in 4 at-bats, and 7th hitter Byun Woo-hyuk showed off his batting skills with 3 hits, 1 RBI, and 3 runs in 5 at-bats.
The game was suspended due to rain at 7:35 PM during KIA’s attack in the bottom of the third inning, but resumed 1 hour and 5 minutes later at 8:40 PM, and the starting pitchers for both teams left the mound early.
KIA also had the upper hand in the bullpen battle. While KIA’s bullpen gave up only one run, Samsung gave up a whopping seven runs.
KIA was the first to take the lead.
In the bottom of the second inning, with one out and a runner on first base on Socrates Brito’s hit, Byun Woo-hyuk hit a two-run double to left-center. With one out and runners on first and third base on Kim Tae-gun’s left-field hit, Samsung starting pitcher Connor Siebold’s wild pitch allowed Byun Woo-hyuk, who was on third base, to score.
Samsung immediately turned the game around.
In the top of the third, after Kim Ji-chan walked, Kim Heon-gon hit a double that hit the top of the left-field fence, putting runners on second and third with no outs. Lee Jae-hyun, who came up to bat next, hit a three-run home run (his 9th of the season) over the left-field fence.
KIA tied the score at 3-3 in the bottom of the third when leadoff hitter Wonjun Choi hit a solo home run (his 5th of the season).
After the game was suspended due to rain and resumed, KIA completely took control, scoring 2 runs in the 4th inning and 4 runs in the 5th inning.
In the bottom of the 4th inning, with 1 out and a runner on 2nd base, Chan-Ho Park hit a timely hit to right field, and with Geon-Chang Seo walking, Won-Jun Choi hit a timely hit to right-center with 1 out and runners on 1st and 2nd base.
In the bottom of the 5th inning, with no outs and a runner on first base, Socrates Brito, who was on first base, took advantage of the opposing center fielder’s throwing error on Kim Seon-bin’s center hit to score.
With runners on second base and Byun Woo-hyuk and Choi Hyeong-woo hitting consecutive hits, KIA added one more point, and with Park Chan-ho’s sacrifice bunt creating one out and runners on second and third base, Seo Geon-chang hit a two-RBI single to right field to make it 9-3.
In the bottom of the 7th inning with one out and bases loaded, KIA added one more run when Kim Do-young drew a pushout walk, sealing the game.
KT Wiz won 12-8 in a 10-inning extra inning match against Kiwoom Heroes at Gocheok Sky Dome.
7th place KT (44 wins, 2 draws, 46 losses), on a 5 game winning streak, narrowed the gap with 6th place SSG Landers (45 wins, 1 draw, 45 losses) to 1 game. They also continued their strong performance with 9 consecutive wins against Kiwoom.
On the other hand, 10th place Kiwoom (37 wins, 52 losses) fell into a 5 game losing streak.
KT overturned an 8-point deficit in the latter half of the game thanks to the hot long hits of its batting lineup. Bae Jeong-dae (5th of the season), who hit a game-tying grand slam in the 9th inning, and Moon Sang-cheol (12th of the season), who hit a game-winning 2-run home run in the 10th inning, led the team to a comeback victory.
Park Young-hyun (7 wins, 2 losses, 14 saves), who was selected as KT’s 6th pitcher, became the winning pitcher.
Ha Young-min’s shutout performance on the mound for Kiwoom was overshadowed. He only allowed 3 hits and 2 walks through 6 innings, keeping the team scoreless, but the bullpen’s poor performance meant he failed to achieve his 7th win (5 losses) of the season.
Kiwoom’s Kim Dong-wook, who gave up a two-run home run in the 10th inning of extra innings, suffered his first loss since his professional debut.
Kiwoom’s bats were hot from the first attack.
In the bottom of the first, with runners on first and third base and no outs, Song Sung-moon hit a single to center field after Lee Ju-hyung’s infield hit, Ronnie Dawson’s bunt hit, and first baseman Oh Jae-il’s error. In the next chance, Kim Hye-seong hit a single, bringing in Dawson, who was on third base, to score. After that, Choi Joo-hwan’s infield hit loaded the bases with no outs, and Won Sung-jun drew a pushout walk to add another run.
In the bottom of the second, after Lee Joo-hyung and Dawson hit consecutive hits, Song Seong-moon hit a single to left-center for a run. Kiwoom, which was leading 4-0, widened the gap further when Kim Hye-seong hit a sacrifice fly to center field with no outs and a runner on third base.
Kiwoom took a big step closer to victory by hitting a home run in the second half of the game.
In the bottom of the 7th, with 2 outs and runners on 1st and 2nd base due to an error by 1st baseman Oh Jae-il, a sacrifice bunt by Won Seong-jun, and a walk by Kim Tae-jin, Kim Geon-hee hit a 3-run home run to left field (his 2nd of the season) by hitting a forkball by pitcher Lee Sang-dong.
KT, which had been silent as they failed to attack starting pitcher Ha Young-min, counterattacked in the top of the 8th.
After leadoff hitter Kim Min-hyeok walked, Mel Rojas Jr. hit a 1-RBI double. Then, Kwon Dong-jin walked and Oh Jae-il was hit by a pitch, creating a bases-loaded opportunity with one out, and Kang Hyun-woo added another run with a pushout walk.
With runners on first and third base, Bae Jeong-dae hit a sacrifice fly to center field, narrowing the score gap to 3-8. However, with two outs and bases loaded, Shim Woo-jun hit a ground ball to the pitcher, ending KT’s pursuit.
However, KT showed great stamina and brought the game back to square one.
In the top of the 9th, after Moon Sang-cheol’s walk and consecutive hits by Kang Baek-ho and Kwon Dong-jin, Kang Hyun-woo got a push-out walk with two outs and the bases loaded. With the bases loaded, Bae Jeong-dae hit a changeup from pitcher Kim Seong-min for a grand slam to tie the game.
KT had the upper hand in the overtime match.
In the top of the 10th inning, with one out and a runner on third, Moon Sang-cheol hit a slurve from pitcher Kim Dong-wook for a game-winning two-run homer that put an end to the fierce battle.
Doosan Bears won 3-2 against Lotte Giants at Ulsan Munsu Baseball Stadium, led by Kwak Bin’s great pitching.
Doosan, which lost to Lotte on the 16th and 17th, broke its three-game losing streak with this win. Doosan, in fourth place, recorded 49 wins, 2 draws, and 44 losses.
8th place Lotte (38 wins, 3 draws, 47 losses) finished with 2 consecutive wins, 3 consecutive wins at Ulsan Stadium.
The battle of pride between the two teams’ homegrown aces was intense. Doosan’s Kwak Bin and Lotte’s Park Se-woong both gave up runs by hitting home runs in the first inning, but continued to pitch shutouts thereafter.
Doosan’s Kwak Bin pitched 7 innings, allowing 2 hits (1 home run), striking out 4, walking 2, and giving up 2 runs. He pitched a whopping 112 pitches.
Park Se-woong was no slouch either. He pitched well, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits (1 home run) and 3 runs while striking out 9 batters in 8 innings, except for a home run in the first inning.
However, the smile came from Kwak Bin as Doosan won by one point. Kwak Bin earned his 8th win (7 losses) of the season.
Park Se-woong pitched well but suffered a defeat. It was his 7th loss (6 wins) of the season.
Both teams only scored once.
Doosan created runners on first and second base with no outs in the top of the first inning with consecutive hits by Jeong Su-bin and Heo Gyeong-min.
Henry Ramos and Kim Jae-hwan struck out in succession, but Yang Seok-hwan took care of it. Yang Seok-hwan aimed for the opposing starter Park Se-woong’s fifth pitch slider and hit a three-run home run (his 21st of the season) over the left field fence.
Lotte responded with a home run to close the gap.
In the bottom of the first, Ko Seung-min’s infield hit put one out and a runner on first base, and Jeon Jun-woo hit a two-run home run over the left-center field wall (his 11th of the season).
Kwak Bin and Park Se-woong shut out the opposing team’s batting lineup from the second inning.
Kwak Bin finished the 2nd and 3rd innings with three strikeouts, and only gave up one walk each in the 4th and 5th innings. He also did not allow any runners to get on base in the 6th and 7th innings.
Park Se-woong did not allow a single batter from the 2nd to the 6th inning. In the top of the 7th, he gave up an infield hit to the leadoff hitter Kim Jae-hwan, but ended the inning with a ground ball to the shortstop and a double play. In the 8th inning, he created another three-up and three-down inning.
Doosan started using the bullpen from the 8th inning, and Lee Young-ha, who took over the mound from Kwak Bin, finished the inning with three strikeouts.
Doosan’s closing pitcher Kim Taek-yeon, who came up to the mound in the bottom of the 9th inning while Doosan was leading 3-2, gave up only one hit and pitched a scoreless inning. Kim Taek-yeon earned his 9th save of the season (2 wins, 1 loss).
Lotte also lost to Doosan as Kim Kang-hyun, who took the mound after Park Se-woong in the top of the 9th, finished the inning cleanly with three strikeouts, but the batting lineup failed to generate enough power.
At Changwon NC Park, the NC Dinos continued their upward trend by defeating the Hanwha Eagles led by Ryu Hyun-jin 4-3.
NC, on a 4-game winning streak, earned its 44th win of the season (2 draws, 43 losses), and pulled down SSG Landers (45 wins, 1 draw, 45 losses), which was unable to play due to rain, to 6th place, taking sole possession of 5th place.
Hanwha fell into a four-game losing streak and finished in 9th place with a record of 38 wins, 2 draws, and 50 losses.
NC right-handed pitcher Shin Min-hyeok did his part, allowing 9 hits (1 home run) and 2 runs in 5 innings. He allowed quite a few hits, but minimized the runs he allowed, laying the foundation for the team’s victory.
Shin Min-hyeok picked up his 7th win (7 losses) of the season.
Hanwha’s ‘returning ace’ Ryu Hyun-jin swallowed his disappointment as he gave up 4 runs in the first inning alone, including 4 consecutive hits. Ryu Hyun-jin, who recorded 5 hits, 5 strikeouts, 1 walk, and 4 runs (3 earned runs) in 5 innings, suffered his 6th loss (5 wins) of the season as the batting line failed to turn things around.
NC shook Ryu Hyun-jin and scored 4 runs in the first inning alone.
In the bottom of the first inning, 4 consecutive hits were hit to score 2 runs. Park Min-woo, Park Si-won, Park Geon-woo, and Matt Davidson hit consecutive hits.
Kwon Hee-dong walked to load the bases, and Kim Hui-jip hit into a double play, allowing Park Geon-woo, a runner on third base, to score.
With runners on third and second base, the opposing third baseman committed a throwing error on Seo Ho-cheol’s ground ball, allowing the runner on third base, Davidson, to score.
Ryu Hyun-jin was shaken in the first inning, but continued pitching shutouts after that.
Hanwha chased little by little.
In the top of the second inning, with Ahn Chi-hong’s hit and Chae Eun-seong’s double, Lee Do-yoon hit a left-field RBI single with two outs and runners on second and third base.
In the top of the 4th inning, with one out and no runners on base, Chae Eun-seong hit a solo home run to left field (his 9th of the season), leading Hanwha to a 2-4 lead.
In the top of the 7th inning, Hanwha cut the score to 3-4 with a double by Noh Si-hwan and a hit by Ahn Chi-hong.
But Hanwha’s pursuit ended there.
NC, which had secured a 1-point lead with Kim Young-gyu, who took the mound in the top of the 8th, pitching a scoreless inning, brought in closer Lee Yong-chan in the top of the 9th.
Lee Yong-chan, who gave up a walk to Lee Won-seok and a double to Jonathan Peraza, threw a pitch that hit Noh Si-hwan, putting the bases loaded with one out, but induced a double play to shortstop by Ahn Chi-hong to close the back door. Lee Yong-chan earned his 15th save of the season (3 wins, 5 losses).
Meanwhile, the match between SSG and LG scheduled to be held at Jamsil Stadium on this day was canceled due to heavy rain. The match postponed on this day will be scheduled at a later date.
(Seoul = Newsis)
Source: www.donga.com
