The Kiwoom Heroes snapped a two-game losing streak with a hard-fought victory behind an explosive batting lineup.
Kim Hye-sung went 4-for-5 with a grand slam and five RBIs in a 9-6 win over the visiting Kia Tigers of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on Friday.
The win snapped a four-game losing streak for the 10th-ranked Kiwoom.
Kiwoom opened the scoring in the top of the fourth inning when Kim Jun-wan drew a bases-loaded walk and Kim Hye-sung followed with a solo home run to right field to make it 5-0.
In the sixth, Hye-Sung Kim singled to right to put runners on first and second, and Ronnie Dawson followed with a two-run double to left to make it 8-0.
KIA got two runs back in the bottom of the sixth when Na Sung-bum hit a two-run shot over the right-center field fence.
Trailing 2-9 in the bottom of the seventh, they scored four runs on five hits, but couldn’t overcome the deficit.
KIA starter Yang Hyun-jong took the loss after giving up seven runs on six hits and four walks in 5⅔ innings.
Yang, who gave up eight runs (six earned) on nine hits in two innings against the LG Twins on Aug. 8, but had his record erased when the game was canceled due to rain, again gave up a lot of runs.
In Daegu, the Samsung Lions capitalized on a strong start by Won Tae-in to come from behind to beat the LG Twins 6-5.
LG took a 2-0 lead in the first inning when Hong Chang-ki led off with a double to left-center, followed by Kim Hyun-soo’s single to right and Austin Dean’s double down the right field line.
Down 2-0, Samsung turned the tide in the bottom of the sixth with a focused batting effort.
After leadoff hitter Kim Dong-jin singled to left, Kim Hyun-jun and Kim Sung-yoon followed with back-to-back bunt singles to load the bases.
With the bases loaded, Koo Jae-rook hit a hard-hit single that bounced off the leg of LG pitcher Adam Plutko.
Kang Min-ho then hit a grounder to third that LG’s Moon Bo-kyung threw home to tie the game at 2-2.
The next batter, Jose Pirela, struck out swinging, but Samsung answered with a Ryu Ji-hyuk single to right to load the bases and make it 4-2.
LG scored a run in the top of the seventh on an RBI single by Hong Chang-ki to cut the deficit to 3-4, but Samsung answered in the bottom of the inning with an RBI double by Oh Jae-il to make it 6-3.
LG scored two runs in the top of the ninth, including a double by Heo Do-hwan, but couldn’t pull off the comeback and suffered the loss, ending its five-game winning streak.
Won Tae-in pitched six innings, allowing two runs on seven hits to earn the win.
At Sajik Stadium in Busan, the Lotte Giants pounded out 16 hits to defeat the SSG Landers 10-6.
SSG opened the scoring in the top of the fourth inning when Choo Shin-soo reached on a bunt single, Choi Joo-hwan doubled and scored on an error, and Kim Kang-min made it 2-0 with an infield single.
After a pitching change, Lotte scored two runs on a solo home run by Jeon Jun-woo and a sacrifice fly by Yoon Dong-hee to make it 3-2.
In the fifth inning, Lotte added another run on an RBI single by Jung, making it 4-2.
SSG got one run back in the top of the seventh on an RBI single by Choo Shin-soo, but Lotte scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh on four hits, one walk and a sacrifice fly, including a double by Kim Min-seok, to take an 8-3 lead.
SSG got on the board in the top of the eighth with a two-run homer by Park Sung-ho, but Lotte responded with a two-run double by Noh Jin-hyuk after a pitching change.
LOTTE shortstop Noh Jin-hyuk went 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs.
In extra innings, the NC Dinos and Hanwha Eagles battled to a 3-3 tie in Changwon.
Hanwha took the lead in the top of the first inning when Noh Si-hwan hit a solo home run to left field off NC’s new foreign pitcher Tanner Tully.
With seven home runs in August alone, Noh’s 28th of the season pushed him to the top of the division, seven shy of the second-best mark.
NC tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the second when Jason Martin hit a solo shot to right-center field.
Hanwha regained the lead in the top of the sixth inning when Nick Williams hit a two-run homer to right center to make it 3-1.
However, NC got a run back in the bottom of the sixth when Park Min-woo hit a triple to right field and came home on a wild pitch.
In the seventh inning, Son As-seop tied the game at 3-3 with an infield grounder with the bases loaded.
The teams battled back and forth until the 12th inning, but were unable to break the tie.
NC Tanner, who started the game, was pulled after giving up three runs on two home runs in six innings.
In Jamsil, where William Cuevas and Raul Alcantara had dazzling pitching performances, KT WIZ earned a thrilling 1-0 win over the Doosan Bears.
The game-winning run came in the eighth inning with the score tied at 0-0.
In the top of the eighth, KT scored two runs off Doosan’s second pitcher, Park Chi-guk, after Bae Jae-dae singled to right, and Kim Min-hyuk followed with a triple to left-center field.
Cuevas earned the win for KT, allowing just two hits and two walks while striking out seven over seven innings.
Cuevas improved to 6-0 on the season and extended his win streak to eight games, dating back to the first game of the doubleheader against NC on Oct. 28, 2021.
Doosan starter Alcantara pitched a four-hit shutout with six strikeouts into the seventh inning, but came up empty-handed.
With their third straight win, third-place KT moved to within two games of second-place SSG, while fifth-place Doosan, which has a long way to go, 카지노사이트넷 dropped its third straight.
