The LG Twins took the lead for the first time in 14 days with a three-game sweep of the Samsung Lions in Jamsil.
LG scored eight runs in the sixth inning to complete a 9-3 comeback victory over Samsung in a home game of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on Friday.
With its 37th win of the season (2-2), LG leapfrogged SSG Landers (36-1), which lost to KT Wiz the same day, into the league lead. This is the first time in 14 days that LG has been at the top of the leaderboard.
Trailing 0-3, LG’s offense came alive in the bottom of the fourth inning when Kim Hyun-soo hit a game-winning solo shot, and in the top of the sixth inning, the team took advantage of Samsung’s bullpen, scoring eight runs in order.
Starting with a leadoff single by Kim Hyun-soo and a tying two-run double by Austin Dean, Moon Sung-joo, Kim Hyun-soo, and Austin came around to score against the Samsung bullpen. They also scored two runs on an error.
With the win in hand, LG started the seventh inning with Kim Jin-sung, Choi Dong-hwan, and Baek Seung-hyun, who combined for three scoreless innings to end the game.
At the plate, Kim Hyun-soo and Austin led the way with three hits apiece, including a home run.
Samsung pulled starter Hwang Dong-jae to start the sixth inning after pitching five innings of one-run ball, but the trusted bullpen collapsed. The complacent defense of right fielder Ryu Seung-min and second baseman Kim Ji-chan in the sixth inning was also disappointing.
The NC Dinos swept the Doosan Bears 10-3 at Changwon NC Park in Gyeongnam, South Korea. With the win, NC improved to 33-25 on the season and remained in third place, 1.5 games behind fourth-place Lotte (31-26).
The bats exploded in the first inning with a two-run homer by Jason Martin, and NC scored three runs in the third and four in the fourth to take an early lead.
In the top of the fifth, second-year pitcher Cho Min-seok came on in relief with runners on first and second and pitched 1 1/3 innings of one-hit ball with three strikeouts to earn his first professional win.
Doosan fought back with a run-scoring single by Jang Seung-hyun in the fifth inning and a two-run homer by Kim Jae-hwan in the eighth, but it wasn’t enough to turn the tide. Choi Won-jun, making his first start in 16 days after being recalled from the second team, was rocked for seven runs in three innings and suffered his sixth loss of the season.
The KIA Tigers snapped a three-game losing streak with an 8-3 victory over the Kiwoom Heroes at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul. With their 26th win of the season (30 points), sixth-ranked KIA extended their lead to two games over seventh-ranked Kiwoom (27-1, 35 points), who saw their five-game winning streak come to an end.
After producing just one run in the 13th and 14th games, the batting lineup came together and scored eight runs.
The bottom of the order showed off their firepower. No. 7 Lee Chang-jin went 3-for-4 with a double, a walk, two RBIs and three runs scored, No. 8 Shin Beom-soo went 1-for-3 with a home run, a walk, two RBIs and a run scored, and No. 9 Park Chan-ho went 2-for-1 with a double, a walk, two RBIs and a run scored 스포츠토토.
Trailing 5-3, KIA scored three runs in the top of the sixth inning, capitalizing on three hits, a walk and an error.
The last-place Hanwha Eagles earned a 5-4 victory over Lotte in an extra-inning thriller at Sajik Stadium in Busan.
Hanwha improved to 23 wins (3 draws, 34 losses) on the season, boosting their hopes of escaping the bottom of the table. Lotte, on the other hand, suffered its third consecutive loss.
In the top of the eighth inning, Jeong Eun-won hit an RBI double to make it 4-2, but Hanwha was unable to hold onto the two-run lead. Kim Bum-soo in the bottom of the eighth and Park Sang-won in the bottom of the ninth tied the game at 4-4.
However, Hanwha scored the game-winning run in the top of the 10th inning of extra innings when Chae Eun-sung lined a single to center field.
After recording a blown save, Park returned to the mound in the bottom of the 10th and retired the next three batters to earn his third win of the season (three saves).