Hwang Jae-gyun (36-KT) rescued his team from a four-game losing streak. Second-place KT moved back to within 5.5 games of first-place LG.
KT earned a 4-3 come-from-behind victory in Suwon on June 6.
Hwang Jae-gyun came to bat with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning, down 2-3, and hit a two-run double off LG closer Ko Woo-seok (25) to decide the game.
With a two-ball, two-strike count, Ko threw a 145-kilometer-per-hour cutter that Hwang caught.
The ball bounced in front of home plate and hit the glove of LG third baseman Moon Bo-kyung (23) before sailing into left field.
In the meantime, Choi Jae-dae (28), who was at third base, and Kim Sang-soo (33), who was at second base, came home to end the game.
Hwang recorded his ninth career walk-off hit.
“I think it was more like, ‘I’m going to hit today what I didn’t hit yesterday,’ than ‘I’m going to finish unconditionally,'” Hwang said.
Hwang Jae-gyun was the same batter who struck out against Go Woo-seok in the bottom of the ninth inning with the bases loaded and the game tied at 4-5 the day before.
KT’s Hwang Jae-gyun with a game-winning hit against LG closer Ko Woo-seok. Courtesy of KT
KT was trailing LG 0-3 when they started their offense in the bottom of the ninth inning.
But after Moon Sang-chul (32) led off with a double, the next batter, Jang Jang-woo (33), brought him home with a single.
Go struck out pinch-hitter Ahn Chi-young (25) on three pitches, but gave up a walk to Park Kyung-soo (39) to put runners on first and second.
Jang Jang-woo then singled up the middle to bring in Jang, and Kim Sang-soo drew a walk to load the bases.
Kim Min-hyuk (28) then threw out Park Kyung-soo, who was running home on a grounder in front of the first baseman, to load the bases.
LG needed just one out to continue its winning streak from the previous day, but Hwang Jae-gyun was unable to get the job done.바카라사이트
If KT wins on the seventh, they can catch LG by 4.5 games.
Hwang Jae-gyun said, “If you look up and chase, you might get caught by the team below you. We need to win the games we have to win, and then we’ll have good results,” Hwang said.
KT’s Benjamin has a 0.83 ERA against LG. Courtesy of KT
KT starter Benjamin, 30, didn’t add another win to his resume, but continued his “LG killer” mode with seven innings of one-run ball.
Benjamin has now pitched five games against LG, posting four wins and a 0.83 ERA.
It’s a record that makes LG a tough team to beat in fall baseball.
“I think he’s strong against LG because they have a lot of left-handed hitters,” Benjamin said.
On the other hand, another KT foreign pitcher, Cuevas (33), has a career ERA of 8.53 against LG.
The previous day, Cuevas was removed from the mound after giving up four runs in three innings.
He was fortunate to get off the mound in a hurry, as rain halted the game for 104 minutes.
KT manager Lee Kang-cheol said, “(LG batters) hit the ball like a batting ball. I won’t use it (against LG) in the future,” he sighed.
KIA’s Na Sung-beom (right) celebrates his home run record against his former club. NEWS
Fifth-ranked KIA extended its winning streak to nine games with a 7-1 victory over host Doosan at home.
It was the first time in 10 years, 2 months, and 17 days (3730 days) since June 8-20, 2013 that KIA had won nine straight games.
If KIA defeats Dusan on July 7, it will be the first time since July 30-August 11, 2009 (5139 days) that they have won 10 straight games.
However, KIA was unable to improve its ranking as fourth-place NC, which was 0.5 games ahead of KIA, also defeated Kiwoom 8-2 at home in Changwon on the same day.
KIA took the lead in the top of the third inning with a two-run home run by Na Sung-beom (34), his 15th of the season.
In the top of the fourth, Park Chan-ho (28) singled with runners on first and second before Kim Do-young (20) hit a two-run home run (his fourth of the season) to make it 5-0.
KIA then scored five runs in the top of the fourth inning as Socrates (31) hit a two-run double with runners on first and second and third to take a 7-0 lead.
Doosan had to settle for a ninth inning victory when Park Jun-young (26), who led off with a single to left, stole second base on an indifferent hit by pitch and Park Ji-hoon (23) hit an RBI double.
Lotte’s Na Kyun-an, who set a new personal record for most pitches thrown (115). Courtesy of Lotte
Seventh-ranked Lotte came from behind to defeat eighth-ranked Samsung, 2-7, at home in Ulsan.
Lotte starting pitcher Na Gyun-an (25) threw a career-high 115 pitches on the day, striking out eight and allowing one run (unearned) in six innings.
He gave up one run on a sacrifice fly in the top of the second inning when shortstop Gudrum (31) missed a routine infield hit, but he didn’t allow another run in the rest of the inning.
Lotte scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth, sending Na Kyun-ahn off the mound with the win requirement.
However, in the top of the seventh, Lotte’s second pitcher, Choi Jun-yong, gave up a two-run double to right-center field to Samsung’s No. 3 hitter, Koo Ja-rook (30), with runners on first and third.
In the top of the eighth inning, Kim Jin-wook (21), who took the mound, gave up three consecutive singles to the first three batters.
Kim struck out the leadoff batter, Oh Jae-il (37), but gave up a double to the next batter, Ryu Ji-hyuk (29).
He then gave up consecutive singles to Lee Jae-hyun (20), Kim Ji-chan (22), and Kim Hyun-joon (21) to give up a run on a wild pitch.
The Lotte dugout tried to change things up with a pitching change, but Jin Seung-hyun (20) gave up another pushing double to Koo Ja-uk and then a two-run single to Kang Min-ho (38-Samsung).
Hanwha’s Jung Eun-won with the game-winning hit. Courtesy of Hanwha
Hanwha climbed out of last place with a 6-5 come-from-behind win over SSG in extra innings in Daejeon.
Down 4-5 in the bottom of the ninth, Hanwha tied the game at 5-5 off SSG reliever Seo Jin-yong (31), and with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 11th inning, Jung Eun-won (23) delivered a pitcher’s choice infield single to score Jang Jin-hyuk (30) from third base to end the game.
With the win, Hanwha improved to 45 wins, 6 draws and 62 losses (0.421 winning percentage) and moved into ninth place, ahead of Kiwoom (51 wins, 3 draws and 72 losses – 0.415 winning percentage).
SSG Choi Jeong (36) doubled in the top of the third inning and came home on the next batter’s double by Heredia (32) to score his 1356th career run.
It was a moment to remember for Doosan manager Lee Seung-yeop (47), the “Ryan King,” as he broke the record for the most runs scored in a career.
However, Choi was unable to smile as his team eventually lost the game.
