Discussions
KT and SSG win, Doosan and Hanwha lose Eye-popping mid-tier ranking competition
Even though the regular season of professional baseball is just around the corner, the competition for the mid-ranking rankings is fierce.
In the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League held on the 10th, KT Wiz and SSG Landers won, while Doosan Bears and Hanwha Eagles lost.
KT, which was in 5th place the day before, rose to 4th place with this win, beating Doosan by half a game.
SSG, in 6th place with 3 consecutive wins, is chasing Doosan, which has fallen to 5th place, by 2 games and is looking for a last-minute turnaround.
However, Hanwha, in 7th place, has lost three games in a row and is now 3 games behind 5th place, moving further away from the post-season.
KT, with their fierce momentum in the final minutes, won 11-8 in a fierce battle with the NC Dinos in their home game in Suwon that day.
KT scored three runs first in the bottom of the third inning with two outs and bases loaded when Moon Sang-cheol and Hwang Jae-gyun hit consecutive hits.
In the top of the 4th, NC's leadoff hitter Seo Ho-cheol hit a solo arch to left field, cutting the score to 1-3.
In the top of the 5th, Kim Joo-won hit a two-run homer, Park Min-woo hit back-to-back homers, and Kim Hui-jib hit another two-run homer to reverse the score to 6-3.
However, KT scored 6 runs in the bottom of the 5th inning, including a 3-run home run by Woo-Jun Shim, with 5 hits and 2 walks, to take the lead 9-6.
NC recovered one point with a push-out walk in the top of the 6th, but KT added two points with doubles by Moon Sang-cheol and Kang Baek-ho in the bottom of the 8th to decide the game.
4th hitter Moon Sang-cheol led the KT offense with 3 hits and 4 RBIs in 4 at-bats.
NC's Matt Davidson, who is first in home runs, hit his 43rd solo home run of the season in the top of the 9th with two outs despite his team's loss.
NC lost despite hitting 5 home runs because the mound collapsed.
At Gocheok Sky Dome, the last-place Kiwoom Heroes defeated the impatient Doosan Bears 7-1.
With the two teams' foreign aces, Enmanuel de Jesús and Jordan Balazovic, competing for the starting spot, Kiwoom scored the first point in the bottom of the first inning when Kim Geon-hee hit a center-field RBI single with two outs and runners on first and second base.
In the third inning, Lee Ju-hyung hit a two-RBI single to right field to make it 3-0.
In the 5th inning, with runners on 2nd and 3rd base and no outs, Kim Geon-hee's sacrifice fly and the opposing team's error added 2 more runs, widening the score gap to 5-0.
Doosan recovered one point in the top of the 8th when Jeon Da-min hit a double and scored on a ground ball, but Kiwoom sealed the win when Choi Joo-hwan hit a two-run homer over the right field line after the offense and defense switched.
Heisus recorded his 12th win (11 losses) by striking out eight batters through seven innings and allowing no runs on three hits, while Balajovic was taken off the mound after allowing three runs on five hits and three walks in 3⅓ innings.
In Incheon, where the 6th and 7th place teams faced off, SSG Landers crushed Hanwha Eagles 5-0, led by home runs from Han Yu-seom and Choi Jeong.
6th place SSG won three games in a row, while 7th place Hanwha suffered three consecutive losses.
SSG took the lead in the bottom of the 5th inning with the score tied at 0-0 when Han Yu-seom hit a solo home run over the left-center field fence.
SSG added one more point in the 6th inning with Jeong Jun-jae's triple and Choi Jeong's sacrifice fly, and added another point in the bottom of the 7th inning with Ha Jae-hoon's double and Lee Ji-young's RBI single to take a 3-0 lead.
In the bottom of the 8th, Choi Jeong hit a two-run home run to left field to decide the game.
Choi Jeong, the KBO League record holder for most home runs, hit her 34th home run of the season and her 492nd career home run.
SSG starting pitcher Song Young-jin pitched 5⅓ innings, allowing no runs on 3 hits and 3 walks, earning the win.
Hanwha's Ryan Weiss pitched well, striking out eight batters through six innings and allowing two runs on four hits, but suffered the loss.
In Jamsil, where extra innings were played, the Lotte Giants defeated the LG Twins 2-1 thanks to Victor Reyes' game-winning hit in the top of the 10th inning.
8th place Lotte snapped its three-game losing streak, while 3rd place LG's two-game winning streak was halted.
LG scored the first point in the top of the third inning when leadoff hitter Koo Bon-hyeok hit a triple to right-center and then scored on Hong Chang-ki's ground ball.
Lotte, who were being dragged along, made it 1-1 in the top of the 5th inning with Park Seung-wook's solo arch after one out.
The tight balance was broken in the top of the 10th inning.
After two outs, Lotte drew a walk from Ko Seung-min, and then brought in Son Ho-young's left-field hit and Reyes' right-field RBI single to score the valuable winning run.
Lotte starter Aaron Wilkerson pitched 7⅔ innings, allowing four hits, three walks, and one run, but came away empty-handed.