By Jang Hyun-koo Lee Dae-ho Reporter = The LG Twins snapped a three-game losing streak with a hot bat.
LG pounded out 15 hits in a 9-1 victory over the visiting Kiwoom Heroes in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on Saturday.
Second-place LG maintained its one-game lead over first-place SSG Landers with the win.
LG captain Oh Ji-hwan, who was batting just 0.189 in his last 10 games prior to the game, was the difference maker, going 2-for-4 with two doubles, four RBIs and one run scored for his first multi-hit game (two or more in a game) in 16 games since last month against KT WIZ on 18 March.
Foreign hitter Austin Dean went 4-for-5 with two singles, a double and a triple, and reached base three times in four plate appearances.
Austin hit a leadoff triple in the second inning, 0-0, and then scored on Park’s infield grounder for the game-winning run.
LG scored three runs in the fourth inning on back-to-back singles by Austin and Park Dong-won, a sacrifice bunt by Moon Bo-kyung to put runners on second and third, and an RBI single by Oh Ji-hwan and a sacrifice fly by Kim Bum-seok. Kim Bum-seok, LG’s rookie catcher, collected his first career RBI.스포츠토토
Oh Ji-hwan doubled to left field with runners on second and third in the fifth inning for a 4-0 lead, and Moon Bo-kyung hit a two-run single to left field with runners on second and third in the seventh inning for a 6-1 lead.
Moon also went 3-for-4 with a home run, three RBIs and one run scored.
LG starter Casey Kelly improved to 6-3 on the season with five innings of five-hit ball, three walks, seven strikeouts and one earned run.
KI starter Eric Yokishi was tagged for six runs on 10 hits, two walks and three strikeouts in 4⅔ innings to fall to 3-5 on the season.
At Jamsil Stadium in Seoul, the Doosan Bears defeated the Hanwha Eagles 4-1.
Doosan’s veteran left-hander, Jang Won-jun, who earned his second win of the season with five innings of one-run ball against the Samsung Lions on the 23rd of last month.
It took him five years to reach the 130-win milestone, but he reached 131 in 14 days.
Doosan took the lead in the bottom of the second inning on a cool two-run shot to right field by Kim Jae-hwan. Kim fired up the cannon for the first time in 20 days since his last game against the Kiwoom Heroes on 17 May.
In the third inning, Doosan’s Kim Dae-hyun capped the scoring with a solo shot to left field.
Doosan added a run in the bottom of the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Heo Kyung-min with runners on first and third after two walks and a hit.
Hanwha, which had 10 hits to match Doosan’s, had its last chance in the bottom of the ninth with a single and two walks, but Kim In-hwan was thrown out at second base. Hanwha left 12 runners on base.
In Gwangju, SSG rode a strong bullpen to a 2-1 victory over KIA.
SSG had a chance to score in the top of the first inning when Park Sung-ho singled up the middle and Choi Jung-jeong doubled to left field.
Guillermo Heredia followed with a walk, and Ha Jae-hoon sent both runners home with a bases-loaded single that landed in front of the centre fielder.
KIA centre fielder Socrates Brito rushed forward and made a sliding catch, but the ball bounced once and ended up in Socrates’ glove.
KIA came back with a solo home run by Park Chan-ho in the fourth, but starter Roenis Elias, who pitched seven scoreless innings, was followed by Noh Kyung-eun-Go Hyo-joon (eighth) and Seo Jin-yong (ninth) to preserve the one-run victory.
With runners on first and third with one out in the seventh inning and a 2-1 lead, Elias made a diving catch of Byun Woo-hyuk’s weak grounder near home plate, tossed it to the catcher and caught Kim Sun-bin, who was racing home, between third and home.
He then struck out Shin Beom-soo to put out the fire.
Seo narrowly escaped a bases-loaded jam in the ninth, leaving him one save shy of his 20th of the season.
KIA rookie Yoon Young-chul, who set new records for most innings pitched (seven) and most pitches thrown (99) in a season, suffered his second loss in as many starts after giving up two earned runs and no batting support.