'Kim Hye-sung Man-roofo' Kiwoom beats KIA to end 4-game losing streak
Lotte defeats SSG, chases down 6th-place KIA
The Samsung Lions pulled out a hard-fought one-run victory over the top-ranked LG Twins.
Samsung overcame a late rally to defeat LG 6-5 in the 2023 Shinhan Bank Solar KBO League at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on Friday.
With the win, Samsung snapped a two-game losing streak and remained in ninth place with 42 wins, one draw and 58 losses.
Leader LG ended its five-game winning streak and moved to 61 wins, two draws, and 36 losses.
Samsung's homegrown ace Won Tae-in pitched six innings of seven-hit ball, allowing two runs.
He gave up two runs to LG in the first inning, but pitched a scoreless second. He struck out five and didn't walk a batter.
Won earned his fifth win of the season (6-2) with the complete game shutout.
LG foreign ace Adam Plutko was rocked for four runs (three earned) on eight hits with seven strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings and took the loss. 섯다 It was his third loss of the season (11 wins).
Plutko pitched a scoreless fifth inning, but was saddled with a rough sixth inning.
LG struck first.
In the top of the first, Hong Chang-ki doubled and Shin Min-jae sacrificed to put runners on first and third, and Kim Hyun-soo followed with a single to right. Austin Dean followed with a double off the top of the right field fence to bring home Kim.
After struggling to capitalize on LG's starting platoon, Samsung rallied in the sixth inning.
In the bottom of the sixth, Kim Dong-jin singled to left and Kim Hyun-jun and Kim Sung-yoon followed with back-to-back bunt singles to load the bases. The next batter, Koo Ja-rook, hit an infield single that deflected off the pitcher, allowing the runner from third to score.
In the next at-bat, LG third baseman Moon Bo-kyung's throw home from Kang Min-ho's grounder went wide, allowing Kim Hyun-jun to score from third.
With two outs, Ryu Ji-hyeok hit a two-run single to right field to bring Samsung within 4-2.
LG pulled within one run in the top of the seventh on Hong Chang-ki's RBI single to left field with runners on first and second, but Samsung regained the lead with two runs in the eighth.
In the bottom of the eighth, after walks to Kang Min-ho, Ryu Ji-hyuk, and Kang Kang-ul loaded the bases, Oh Jae-il hit a two-run single to left field to give Samsung a 6-3 lead.
LG didn't go away easily. In the ninth inning, they rattled Samsung closer Oh Seung-hwan.
In the top of the ninth, Moon Sung-joo singled to center and Heo Do-hwan doubled to right to bring in a run. 온라인섯다 Park Hae-min followed with a single to put runners on first and third, and Hong Chang-ki's grounder to second brought home Heo.
But that was it. Oh Seung-hwan struck out Shin Min-jae on a pitcher's choice and Kim Hyun-soo on a fly ball to right field to preserve the win.
Seung-hwan Oh pitched one inning of two-run ball and earned the save. It was his 18th save of the season (3-4).
At Jamsil Stadium, the KT Wiz defeated the Doosan Bears 1-0 behind William Cuevas' strong pitching and Kim Min-hyuk's game-winning hit.
Riding a three-game winning streak, third-place KT improved to 54 wins (2 ties, 45 losses) on the season and moved within two games of second-place SSG Landers.
Doosan, with 49 points (1 win, 1 draw, 48 losses), remains in fifth place.
Cuevas and Raul Alcantara pitched ace-like performances for both teams.
Cuevas shut down the Doosan offense for seven innings, allowing just two hits and two walks. He struck out seven.
His counterpart, Alcantara, also pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing just four hits. He didn't walk a batter while striking out six.
Cuevas and Alcantara allowed just one hit each until the fourth inning.
Alcantara was the first to run into trouble.
In the top of the sixth, Alcantara struck out Kim Sang-soo and Jeong Byeong-dae, but back-to-back singles by Kim Min-hyuk and Lee Ho-yeon put runners on first and third, but the third baseman was thrown out trying to steal second.
In the seventh inning, Cuevas ran into trouble. He gave up back-to-back singles with the bases loaded.
Cuevas didn't give up a run. He struck out pinch-hitter Kang Seung-ho to end the threat.
After Cuevas got out of the jam, KT succeeded in breaking the '0' balance against the new pitcher Park Chi-guk.
In the top of the eighth inning, with two outs and no runners on base, Cho Jae-dae singled to right and advanced to second on a throwing error by the right fielder.
Kim Min-hyuk then hit a triple to left-center field. Doosan center fielder Jung Soo-bin, who tried to make a diving catch, was unable to hold on to the ball, leading to a triple.
Kim Min-hyuk tried to make it home, but was blocked by the replay.
KT preserved its lead in the bottom of the eighth inning when Park Young-hyun worked a triple play and brought in closer Kim Jae-yoon for the ninth.
Kim also pitched a scoreless inning with one strikeout. Kim improved to 20 saves on the season (3-2), marking the fourth consecutive season he has reached the 20-save mark.
Cuevas picked up his sixth win of the season. This was Cuevas' 10th start of the season since returning to KT as a substitute in mid-June and he has yet to record a loss.
Alcantara left without a win, while Park Chi-guk, who gave up the final run, suffered his first loss of the season (4-2).
The Kiwoom Heroes picked up a 9-6 win over the KIA Tigers at the Gwangju-Kia Champions Field.
Last-place Kiwoom, which snapped a four-game losing streak, has 43 wins, three draws, and 62 losses. Sixth-place KIA, which has lost two straight, has 45 wins, two ties and 47 losses to trail seventh-place Lotte by 0.5 games.
Kim Hye-sung led the way for Kiwoom with a five-hit performance. Batting second, Kim pounded out four hits, including a grand slam in the fourth inning.
Kiwoom starter Ariel Hurtado earned his eighth win of the season, allowing two runs on six hits (one home run) with three strikeouts in six innings of work.
KIA's native left-handed ace Yang Hyun-jong suffered the loss, giving up seven runs on six hits (one home run) in 5⅔ innings with five strikeouts and four walks.
Yang suffered his seventh loss of the season (five starts). Yang, who hasn't recorded a win in the second half of the season, will have to wait another day to tie his career record for most starts.
Kiwoom broke the 0-0 tie with a five-run fourth inning.
In the top of the fourth, Jeon Byung-woo doubled and Kim Dong-heon singled to load the bases, and Kim Jun-wan drew a walk.
With the bases loaded, Kim Hye-sung pulled a two-pitch fastball from Yang Hyun-jong for a grand slam over the right field wall. Kim capped off her sixth home run of the season with her fourth career grand slam.
Kiwoom added three more runs in the sixth inning.
In the top of the sixth, Kim Dong-heon walked and Kim Jun-wan singled to put runners on first and third, and Kim Hye-sung singled to right.
A wild pitch by the opposing pitcher put runners on second and third, and Ronnie Dawson followed with a double to left.
KIA rallied hard.
After scoring two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning when Na Sung-beom hit a two-run shot to right-center field (his 10th of the season), KIA added four runs in the seventh inning. In the bottom of the seventh, Choi Won-jun singled up the middle, followed by Park Chan-ho's infield single to put runners on first and second with Kim Do-young's double to right-center and Na Sung-beom's RBI single to left-center.
But that was it. KIA was unable to capitalize on an error and Socrates Brito's high fly ball to load the bases.
Kiwoom had runners on first and second in the bottom of the eighth, but Lim Chang-min struck out Kim Do-young to preserve the lead. After retiring the side in order in the bottom of the ninth, Lim pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings to earn his 18th save of the season (1-2).
The Lotte Giants won 10-6 against the SSG Landers at Sajik Stadium.
Seventh-ranked Lotte, which won its second straight game, improved to 48-51.
Second-place SSG (55 wins, 1 tie, 42 losses), which had its two-game winning streak halted, closed the gap on third-place KT to two games.
The Lotte bats harassed the SSG mound, pounding out 16 hits long and short. Noh Jin-hyuk (5-for-5, 3 RBIs) and Lee Jung-geun (3-for-3, 2 RBIs, 2 runs scored) had back-to-back three-hit games, while Jeon Jun-woo went 4-for-5 with a double, a home run, and three RBIs.
Lotte native ace Park Se-woong received solid support from the bats, going six innings and allowing two runs on four hits with three strikeouts and two walks to record his first win of the second half. It was their fifth win of the season in 53 days since June 23 against LG Electronics.
SSG drank the bitter pill of defeat as its bullpen collapsed after starter Roenis Elias gave up three runs on seven hits (one home run) in four innings. Elias suffered his fifth loss of the season (5-0).
After giving up two runs to SSG in the top of the fourth inning, Lotte came right back.
In the bottom of the fourth, leadoff hitter Jeon Jun-woo hit a solo home run (his 11th of the season) over the left field fence to spark the comeback.
After back-to-back singles by Nico Gudrum and Lee Jung-geun tied the game, Noh Jin-hyuk doubled and Kim Min-seok walked to load the bases and Yoon Dong-hee hit a sacrifice fly to give LOTTE a 3-2 lead.
LOTTE added a run in the bottom of the fifth inning when Lee Jung-geun singled to left field with runners on first and second.
After SSG pulled within one run in the top of the seventh on a Choo Shin-soo RBI single to left, Lotte responded with four runs in the bottom of the inning.
In the bottom of the seventh, an infield single by Gudrum and a walk by Lee Jung-geun put runners on first and second, and Noh Jin-hyuk hit a single to right. The next batter, Kim Min-seok, followed with a double to right.
With runners on second and third, Yoon Dong-hee hit a sacrifice fly, and Ahn Chi-hong, who came up to bat, singled up the middle to bring home Kim Min-seok from third.
SSG rallied in the top of the eighth with a bases-loaded, two-run home run by Park Sung-ho (his sixth of the season), but Lotte answered with two runs in its next at-bat to secure the win. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth, Noh Jin-hyuk hit a two-run single to right.
In the top of the ninth, LOTTE brought in reliever Kim Won-joong after Kim Sang-soo walked the bases loaded.
Kim induced a grounder to shortstop Park Sung-eun and then got pinch-hitter Kang Jin-sung to fly out to left field to end the threat with just one run. Kim Won-joong earned his 22nd save of the season (5-3).
At NC Park in Changwon, the NC Dinos and Hanwha Eagles played to a 3-3 draw.
It was NC's second draw of the season (50-46) and Hanwha's sixth of the year (40-52).
Hanwha struck first. With the bases loaded in the top of the first inning, Si-hwan Noh pulled a 143 mph fastball from starter Tanner Tully over the left field fence for a solo home run (his 28th of the season).
NC tied the game with a home run of its own. In the bottom of the second inning, leadoff hitter Jason Martin hit a solo arch (No. 12 of the season) to right center field.
Hanwha broke the 1-1 tie first. In the top of the sixth inning, with runners on first and second, Nick Williams hit a two-run homer to right (his fourth of the season).
NC answered right back in the bottom of the sixth when leadoff hitter Park Min-woo hit a triple down the right field line, and Hanwha third baseman Noh Si-hwan took advantage of a poor throw from the right fielder to score.
NC tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the seventh when Son Asub grounded out to shortstop to score Do Tae-hoon from third base on an error and consecutive singles by Oh Young-soo and Kim Joo-won.
The teams went into extra innings, but were unable to settle the score.
NC's new foreign-born pitcher Tanner Tully had a solid KBO debut, allowing three runs on six hits (two home runs) with four strikeouts in six innings, but was unable to get the win.
Hanwha starter Felix Peña also struggled, 고스톱 allowing three runs (one earned) on four hits (one home run) in 6⅓ innings with four strikeouts and two walks.