The top-ranked LG Twins rode their luck to a six-game winning streak.
LG won a 2-1 victory over the visiting SSG Landers of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on Wednesday, thanks to a two-run home run by Austin Dean.
With the victory, LG, which has won six straight games, maintained a 6.5-game lead over second-place KT Wiz and began consolidating its top spot.
LG managed just two hits, but got lucky with a solid mound performance to secure the one-run victory.
LG took the lead in the first inning when leadoff hitter Hong Chang-ki drew a walk, and two batters later, Austin Dean hit a two-run home run to center field.
SSG had more chances than LG, but couldn’t capitalize.
In the bottom of the 8th inning, Choi Jung’s double and two walks loaded the bases.
Park Sung-eun came up to bat with a chance to tie the game, but the ball hit the first baseman’s glove and fell to the umpire.
It was ruled fair on video review, but the runner at first base, Han Yoo-seom, was ruled tagged out because he stopped instead of running to second base.
Park’s hit would have been a double if it hadn’t hit the umpire, allowing SSG to at least hope for a tie.
Unsatisfied with the video review, SSG manager Kim Won-hyung protested strongly and received an automatic ejection.
Amid the confusion, a runner scored from third base, but SSG was unable to capitalize on the ensuing double play and suffered a one-run loss.
LG starter Casey Kelly pitched six innings of four-hit ball to earn the win.
SSG’s second pitcher in the third inning, Roenis Elias, pitched seven innings of one-hit ball with four strikeouts, but did not get the win.
In Daejeon, the Hanwha Eagles defeated the road-bound KIA Tigers 14-8.
Sixth-ranked KIA fell to a shocking seventh straight defeat after failing to capitalize on two early runs.
After scoring two runs in the first inning on Kim Do-young’s triple and Choi Hyung-woo’s double, KIA took a 3-0 lead in the top of the second on Kim Kyu-sung’s solo home run.
However, in the bottom of the second inning, things came crashing down.
Lee, making his first appearance in 12 days due to a finger injury, struck out three straight batters in the first inning, but his pitches suddenly faltered in the second, allowing five runs (four earned) on two hits and three wild pitches before being pulled after just 1⅓ innings.
KIA scored a run in the top of the third on an RBI single by Socrates Brito to cut the deficit to 4-5.
However, Hanwha extended its lead with a two-run homer by Chae Eun-sung in the bottom of the third and then scored two runs in the fourth to take a 9-4 lead.
They added four more runs in the bottom of the eighth, including a two-run double by Nick Williams, for a 10-4 lead.
In Suwon, KT WIZ swept the Lotte Giants 5-0 to stay in second place.
KT scored the first two runs in the bottom of the third inning on an infield single by Park Byung-ho and a wild pitch, then Anthony Alford hit a two-run double to center field for a 3-0 lead.
In the fifth inning, with two on and one out, Alford blasted a two-run home run to left field to make it 5-0.
Lotte held an 8-7 advantage in hits, but couldn’t capitalize on the extra-base hits.
KT starter Choi Byeol-seong earned the win, scattering six hits and no runs over seven innings with six strikeouts.
Lotte’s Na Kyun-an took the loss after giving up six runs (two earned) on six hits in five innings with a fielding error.
With their second straight win, the second-place KT moved within two games of the third-place NC Dinos, who lost on the day.
In Daegu, the Doosan Bears defeated the Samsung Lions 5-1.
Doosan scored the first two runs in the top of the first inning on a single by Kim Jae-hwan and a subsequent ground ball.
Samsung got one run back in the bottom of the inning when Jose Pirela singled to left and came home on a sacrifice bunt and subsequent grounder.
However, Doosan answered in the top of the fifth inning when Cho Su-hyun reached on a bunt and advanced to third on a wild pitch before scoring on Jung Soo-bin’s single to center field to make it 3-1.
In the sixth inning, Yang Jeong-ji hit a solo home run, and Doosan added a run in the top of the ninth on Jung Soo-bin’s triple.
At the Gocheok Dome, the Kiwoom Heroes came from behind to beat the NC Dinos 5-1.
NC took a 1-0 lead in the top of the eighth inning when Kim Hyung-joon blasted a solo home run.
However, Kiwoom answered in the bottom of the eighth when Kim Hye-sung led off with a triple and Ronnie Dawson followed with a single to left to make it 1-1.
With the bases loaded and nobody out, Kim Ji-yeol hit a bases-clearing double to center field to give Kiwoom a 5-1 lead. 스포츠토토