MHN Sports Reporter Lee Kyu-won) Busan Giants~Busan Seagulls~Sacked!
The Lotte Giants of the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) gave their home fans a thrilling finish to the series.
The top-ranked SSG Landers swept last year’s Korean Series opponents, the Kiwoom Heroes, in eight games.
The LG Twins, who were in the lead, lost back-to-back games to the NC Dinos to fall one game behind SSG.
Lotte won a 6-5 home game against the KIA Tigers in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Sajik Stadium in Busan on Wednesday, thanks to Noh Jin-hyuk’s game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Lotte moved to within one game of the second-place LG Twins, who lost on the day.
Lotte rallied from a 0-3 deficit in the bottom of the sixth inning.
With the bases loaded, Yoo Kang-nam and Jeong Hoon hit back-to-back RBI singles to score four runs and make it 4-3.
The game remained close. After trading runs in the seventh inning, Lotte gave up an RBI single to pinch-hitter Lee Chang-jin in the top of the eighth to tie the game at 5-5.
Lotte did not collapse. With runners on second and third, they brought in closer Kim Won-joong to put out the fire.
After getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the ninth, LOTTE ended the game in the bottom of the ninth.
Leadoff hitter Park Seung-wook and pinch-hitter Jeon Jun-woo drew back-to-back walks against Choi Ji-min, and Ahn Chi-hong drew a walk to reliever Jang Hyun-sik.
With the bases loaded, Yoon Dong-hee struck out, but the next batter, Noh Jin-hyuk, took advantage of Jang Hyun-sik’s first-pitch forkball and blasted a grand slam over the right field fence.
It was Noh’s second home run in about three weeks, following his game-winning hit against the Doosan Bears on March 11.
A full house of 22,990 fans attended the game at Sajik Stadium in Busan.
SSG’s Jeon Eui-san tied the game in the eighth inning with a home run and made a decisive contribution in the 10th inning.
SSG won a 2-1 home game against the Kiwoom Heroes at SSG Landers Field in Incheon, Korea, thanks to catcher Kim Min-sik’s game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the 10th inning.
With the game-winning hit for the second straight day, SSG extended its winning streak to three games and has now won all eight games against Kiwoom this season. Kiwoom has lost three straight.
In the bottom of the 10th inning of extra innings, tied 1-1, SSG put themselves in scoring position after the previous day’s hero, Kim Sung-hyun, led off with a single to right off Kiwoom’s Yang-hyun, and Jeon Eui-san drew a full-count walk.
Kim Min-sik then drew another full-count battle with Yang Hyun before lining a single to right to end the game.
SSG played a frustrating game until the sixth inning.
They didn’t get a single hit off Kiwoom starter Jung Chan-heon and didn’t draw a single walk.
SSG finally tied the game in the bottom of the eighth inning, trailing 0-1. With two outs, Jeon Eui-san pinch-hit and hit a solo home run off Kiwoom’s third pitcher, Kim Sung-jin, to tie the game.
The game then went into extra innings, where Kim Min-sik hit a thrilling walk-off single to end the game.
Jeon Eui-san played a supporting role, going 1-for-1 with a walk, an RBI, a stolen base, and a run scored after hitting the tying home run and drawing a valuable walk in the 10th inning.
Kiwoom starter Chung Chan-heon pitched a perfect six innings with no walks and five strikeouts, but was unable to secure the win as the bullpen collapsed.
Samsung’s Jung-Bin Yoon hits pinch-hit home run for first career home run
The seventh-ranked Samsung Lions used back-to-back pinch-hitting efforts to pull off a 7-2 comeback victory over the ninth-ranked Hanwha Eagles at Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon.
Samsung trailed 1-2 in the top of the seventh inning when pinch-hitter Yoon Jung-bin hit a mid-month game-winning solo home run off Felix Peña.
It was Jung-bin Yoon’s first career home run as a pinch-hitter after joining Samsung in 2018.
With the momentum in their favor, Samsung scored a big run in the eighth inning.
With runners on first and second, Koo Ja-rook singled up the middle against Hanwha’s Park Sang-won, and on the next at-bat, Kim Tae-gun, who was pinch-hitting, hit a two-run wedge to center field to make it 5-2.
Yoon finished 1-for-2 with a walk, a hit, a stolen base and a run scored, while Kim Tae-gun went 1-for-1 with a walk and two RBIs.
The game drew a sellout crowd of 12,000 for the first time in four years.
NC Peddie improves to 9-0 with 5 innings of 4K, 2 runs allowed
At Jamsil Stadium in Seoul, the NC Dinos rode a strong batting performance to a 7-2 victory over the visiting LG.
NC jumped out to a 2-0 lead in 스포츠토토 the top of the first inning, with runners on first and second, when Jason Martin lined an RBI double to the right side of the infield.
The lead didn’t last long. NC starter Eric Peddy gave up a run in each of the second and third innings to tie the game at 2-2.
The game came down to the fourth inning. NC took advantage of their opponent’s starter, Im Chan-kyu.
The leadoff hitter, Kwon Hee-dong, pulled a three-pitch fastball for a thunderous solo home run to left field.
The NC bats pounced on Im, who started to falter.
With runners on first and third, Son hit a timely double to the right side of the infield to make it 4-2.
NC’s Seo Ho-cheol then took advantage of Im’s first pitch and blasted a three-run home run over the left field fence to extend the lead to 7-2.
Pedi pitched five innings, allowing two runs on five hits with two walks and four strikeouts to improve to 9-1 on the season and jump into sole possession of the win column.
■ Last-place KT snaps four-game losing streak with 17 hits from all starters
The last-place KT WIZ snapped a four-game losing streak with a 13-3 home win over the Doosan Bears at Katie Wiz Park in Suwon.
KT jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning, blasting Bears starter Kim Dong-joo.
Three consecutive hits by Kim Sang-soo, Kang Baek-ho, and Park Byung-ho made it 3-0, and with two outs, Jang Sung-woo hit a grand slam to make it 5-0.
KT cut the deficit to 5-3 in the top of the fourth, but the bats exploded in the bottom of the inning.
They scored four more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to take an 8-3 lead.
Doosan’s third pitcher, Choi Ji-kang, was shaken up in the bottom of the fifth inning as he gave up three straight walks, including 12 against KT’s Kim Min-hyuk, Kim Sang-soo, and Kang Baek-ho.
KT pounded out a team-high 17 hits on the day, with all of its starters recording a hit.
Doosan right-hander Lee Young-ha, who was recently acquitted after being charged with school violence, pitched the eighth inning in his return to the first team and threw one hitless inning with one strikeout.