Once mired in last place, the Korean baseball organization KT Wiz has nearly caught up with second-place SSG Landers in a scary turnaround.
KT won a 9-8 victory over the visiting Doosan Bears in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on Sunday, led by No. 4 hitter Jang Jang-woo’s three-hit, five-RBI blast.
Riding a five-game winning streak, third-place KT pulled even with second-place SSG, which was swept by the Lotte Giants earlier in the day. They fell 0.002 behind in winning percentage, but could not take over second place.
KT, which had a win-loss margin of “minus 14” with 10 wins, two draws and 24 losses as of May 18, has maintained a remarkable pace of 46 wins, 21 losses and a winning percentage of 0.687 in 67 games since then.
Doosan, on the other hand, has been unable to break out of a five-game losing streak and has only managed 49 wins, one draw and 50 losses, a win percentage of minus 5. They also dropped from fifth to seventh place.
It’s been 48 days since July 1 since Doosan finished below fifth place.
Jang Sung-woo, batting fourth, put runners on first and second with one out in the first inning when he scooped up a low slider from Doosan starter Brandon Waddell and smashed it 115 meters for a go-ahead three-run homer. It was his ninth home run of the season.
After cutting the deficit to 4-3 in the third, he added an RBI with a bases-loaded double to right-center field, and in the fifth, he extended the lead to 7-3 with an RBI single to right field.
KT faltered in the bottom of the ninth, giving up three runs on three hits, but Park Young-hyun, pitching for the third straight day, preserved the one-run victory.
Jang Sung-woo had his best day at the plate, going 4-for-5 with a home run and five RBIs.
Bae Jeong-dae, who confessed on social media prior to the game that he had been bullied in school, went 3-for-5 with a home run and an RBI.
The KIA Tigers defeated the last-place Kiwoom Heroes 8-4 behind a one-man show from Socrates Brito, who hit back-to-back home runs at Gwangju’s KIA Champions Field.
KIA moved within half a game of Doosan for fifth place.
Leading 3-1 in the top of the eighth inning, KIA looked to be on the ropes when Song Sung-moon hit a go-ahead three-run homer.
That’s when Socrates stepped up to the plate. With runners on first and second in the bottom of the eighth, he pulled a six-pitch outside slider from Kiwoom’s third pitcher, Kim Sung-jin, over the fence, creating a beautiful arch in the Gwangju night sky.
Socrates’ home run brought the score back to 5-4, and KIA scored three more runs to seal the win.
Socrates, who also homered in the sixth inning, went 3-for-4 on the day with two home runs, four RBIs and two runs scored, sending Gwangju into a frenzy.
The Lotte Giants extended their winning streak to four games by beating SSG despite the absence of manager Larry Sutton.
Lotte pounded out a team-high 20 hits in a 15-4 win at Sajik Stadium in Busan.
Lotte moved ahead of Doosan in the win column and into sixth place.
The Lions were led by acting manager Lee Jong-woon, as Sutton was benched after complaining of dizziness before the game.
Despite the chaotic atmosphere, Lotte used their hot bats to push SSG hard.
The deciding game came in the eighth inning. Lotte was down 6-2 and trailing by two runs, 6-4, when fourth pitcher Choi Jun-yong faltered.
However, they managed to get out of the ensuing runners on first and third and then exploded for nine runs in the bottom of the eighth on nine showers of hits to seal the win.
Jeon Jun-woo went 4-for-4 with a double and two RBIs, while catcher Yoo Kang-nam, who was named to the first team on the day, went 3-for-5 with a double, one walk, two RBIs and two runs scored.
The ninth-ranked Samsung Lions rode a four-hit performance from Koo Ja-rook to a 4-2 win at home against the LG Twins at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu.
Samsung’s batting title contender went 4-for-4 with a home run, his sixth of the season, three RBIs and one run scored to become the 16th player in history to reach 100 hits in nine consecutive seasons.
Samsung catcher Kang Min-ho, who donned a catcher’s mask in the ninth inning, became the third player in history to reach 2,200 games played.
At Changwon NC Park, the NC Dinos snapped a three-game losing streak with a 10-9 victory over the Hanwha Eagles, thanks to a tiebreaking home run by Son Asub in the bottom of the ninth inning and a game-tying RBI single by Kim Soo-yoon in the top of the 10th inning.
The game was a back-and-forth affair. NC was trailing 7-9 in the bottom of the ninth inning.
However, in the bottom of the ninth, Park Dae-on singled up the middle and Son As-seob hit a dramatic two-run home run to left field off Hanwha’s Jung Woo-ram to send the game into extra innings.
With runners on first and second in the top of the 10th inning, NC got a leadoff double down the left field line by Yoon Hyung-jun, 카지노사이트넷 and then Kim Soo-yoon lined a two-pitch slider up the middle off Hanwha’s Kim Kyu-yeon to end the game.