LG Austin hits 30 home runs and 100 RBIs
KIA Nail, hit in the jaw by a ball in the training, replaced
Lotte hits 4 home runs, making Samsung cry
KT Wiz of professional baseball defeated SSG Landers and secured sole 5th place.
KT won 9-3 in the 2024 Shinhan Solbank KBO League match against SSG held at Munhak Stadium on the 24th.
KT, on a 4-game winning streak, is now in sole 5th place (59 wins, 2 draws, 60 losses) and is approaching a 50% win rate. SSG, in 6th place (57 wins, 1 draw, 62 losses), which is 2 games behind KT, has lost 3 games in a row.
SSG took the lead with a timely double by Han Yu-seom with 2 outs and a runner on 2nd base in the 4th inning, but KT turned the game around in the top of the 6th inning by scoring 5 runs. With runners on 1st and 3rd base and no outs, Moon Sang-cheol hit a tying run-scoring double to left-center off SSG starting pitcher Oh Won-seok, and Kang Baek-ho hit a go-ahead 2-RBI single to right field.
Even though SSG came to the rescue, KT’s batting lineup continued to focus.
With runners on second base and no outs due to Bae Jeong-dae’s infield hit, Lee Ho-yeon hit a ground ball. At this time, Bae Jeong-dae ran without stopping and scored home while SSG committed consecutive throwing errors. Then, Shim Woo-jun hit a left-field RBI single to make it 5-1.
SSG recovered one point in the bottom of the 6th with Han Yu-seom’s timely hit to right-center, but KT ran away again in the 7th with Mel Rojas Jr.’s timely double.
In the top of the 9th, with 2 hits and 1 walk and 1 out and bases loaded, Oh Yoon-seok’s push-out walk and Shim Woo-jun’s 2-RBI center-field hit sealed the win.
SSG scored one run in the bottom of the 9th with one out and bases loaded on Jeong Hyun-seung’s ground ball, but was unable to turn the game around.
KT starter Eom Sang-baek earned his 11th win (9 losses) of the season with 5⅔ innings, 6 hits, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts, and 2 runs.
SSG starting pitcher Oh Won-seok, who collapsed in the 6th inning, was unable to avoid his 8th loss (6 wins) of the season, allowing 5 hits, 5 walks, 4 strikeouts, and 4 runs in 5 innings.
In Jamsil, the Hanwha Eagles won 7-6 in overtime against the Doosan Bears.
Hanwha (55 wins, 2 draws, 60 losses), in 7th place with 2 consecutive wins, erased the gap with 6th place SSG and accelerated its advance to the top 5.
Doosan (62 wins, 2 draws, 59 losses), in 4th place after losing 2 games, is now 2 games behind 5th place KT.
The game progressed with Hanwha running away and Doosan chasing after them.
Hanwha took the lead in the fourth inning with a solo home run by Jonathan Peraza, and added another point in the top of the fifth with a sacrifice fly to right field by Lee Jae-won.
Doosan, who was trailing 0-2, scored a run in the bottom of the 5th inning on a wild pitch by Hanwha starting pitcher Jaime Barria, and tied the score in the 6th inning on a timely double by Yang Eui-ji.
Then, Hanwha ran away again to 4-2 in the 7th inning with timely hits by Lee Do-yoon and Moon Hyun-bin.
Doosan turned the tide by scoring 4 runs in the 8th inning.
With the bases loaded after three walks, Kim Jae-hwan chose to walk a batter and Kang Seung-ho hit a two-RBI center-field single. Jeon Min-jae added another run with a squeeze bunt.
But Hanwha wasn’t easy either.
In the 9th inning, with consecutive hits by Noh Si-hwan and Kim Tae-yeon, with runners on 1st and 3rd base and no outs, Yu Yoo-gyeol’s ground ball and Kim Taek-yeon’s wild pitch tied the score at 6-6.
In the top of the 10th inning, leadoff hitter Jang Jin-hyeok ran all the way to second base after a throwing error by first baseman Yang Seok-hwan. With one out and a runner on second base, Kim Tae-yeon hit a right-field RBI single to score the winning run.
Lee Sang-gyu, who appeared in the bottom of the 9th with no outs and a runner on first base and pitched 2 scoreless innings without allowing any hits, became the winning pitcher.
Doosan’s Lee Young-ha, who came on in the top of the 10th inning, suffered the loss after allowing one run in one inning.
At Gocheok Sky Dome, the LG Twins won a big game against the Kiwoom Heroes, 7-0.
LG, in third place, avenged its loss the day before and recorded its 63rd win of the season (2 draws, 54 losses).
Kiwoom remained in last place (52 wins, 67 losses).
LG’s starting hitter Austin Dean led the way to victory. Austin went 4-for-5 with 4 RBIs, including 2 home runs.
Austin hit a leadoff single in his first at-bat. With the score tied 0-0 in the first inning with one out and a runner on third, he hit a center-field hit to give his team the lead.
In the bottom of the 4th inning, with one out and a runner on first base, LG was up 4-0 when he hit a low fastball from Kiwoom starting pitcher Kim Yoon-ha over the left field fence. It was his 29th home run of the season, added in just two games since the game against SSG Landers on the 22nd.
Austin’s bat exploded again in the 8th inning with a 6-0 lead. With two outs, he hit the third pitch, a slider from Kiwoom reliever Lee Myeong-jong, over the left field fence.
With his 30th home run of the season, Austin became the first player to reach 30 home runs and 100 RBIs this year. Austin, who was leading the league with 107 RBIs before the game, increased his RBI total for the season to 111.
Austin is the second LG player to hit 30 home runs and 100 RBIs in a season, following Charles Smith (35 home runs and 100 RBIs) in 2000.
However, Smith hit 20 home runs for Samsung at the time, then was traded to LG and hit 15 home runs. Austin is the first player to hit 30 home runs and 100 RBIs in a single season while wearing an LG uniform.
LG starting pitcher Dietrick Enns pitched 5 innings, allowing 4 hits, striking out 8, and no runs, snapping his recent 3-game losing streak and earning his 10th win (6 losses) of the season.
Kim Yoon-ha suffered her fourth loss (1 win) of the season, allowing 10 hits (1 home run) and 6 runs in 3⅓ innings.
In Changwon, the KIA Tigers defeated the NC Dinos 2-0.
KIA scored the first run in the bottom of the fifth with Park Chan-ho’s left-field RBI hit with two outs and a runner on second base, and secured the win in the bottom of the ninth with Choi Won-jun’s center field sacrifice fly with one out and runners on first and third base.
The leading KIA Tigers recorded their 71st win of the season (2 draws, 47 losses), pushing the second-place Samsung Lions (65 wins, 2 draws, 54 losses) by 6.5 games.
However, they could not smile despite winning because starting pitcher James Nail was hit by a hard-hit pitch. Nail, who had pitched scoreless pitches until the 5th inning, was hit in the jaw by the leadoff hitter Matt Davidson in the 6th inning and was replaced.
If Nail, who had 12 wins (5 losses) that day, is out due to injury, KIA’s remaining games could also be hit hard.
NC’s three-game winning streak was broken, and they remained in 9th place (51 wins, 2 draws, 63 losses). Starting pitcher Shin Min-hyeok pitched 6 innings, allowing only 1 run, but the batting lineup was silent, recording his 9th loss (7 wins) of the season.
In Daegu, the Lotte Giants hit four home runs to beat the Samsung Lions 11-3.
Lotte (51 wins, 3 draws, 60 losses), which broke its three-game losing streak, maintained 8th place.
Lotte’s starting pitcher Jung Hyun-soo left the game early after allowing 5 hits, 2 walks, and 3 runs in 3 innings, but quickly activated the relief pitchers and used long hits to crush Samsung.
In the first inning, with one out and runners on first and second base, Victor Reyes hit a fastball from Samsung starter Baek Jeong-hyeon for a three-run home run. Jeon Jun-woo then hit a ball over the left field fence for a back-to-back home run.
In the bottom of the second inning, with the score 4-0 and runners on second and third base, Ko Seung-min hit a three-run home run over the right field fence off Baek Jeong-hyeon’s fastball.
In the bottom of the 9th inning with 2 outs and a runner on first base, Yoon Dong-hee hit a 2-run home run to left field off of Samsung’s Yang Hyeon to seal the win.
Ko Seung-min hit a home run and had three hits and four RBIs.
Baek Jeong-hyeon suffered his third loss (6 wins) of the season, allowing 10 hits (3 home runs), 8 runs, and 7 earned runs in 4⅔ innings.
[서울=뉴시스]
2024-08-25 19:28:32