After faltering in the second half, the LG Twins are flying high again.
Austin Dean and Moon Bo-kyung unleashed a barrage of home runs behind starter Casey Kelly’s stellar pitching as LG won 9-2 against the Doosan Bears in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Jamsil Stadium on Monday.
The win was the second in a row after a five-game losing streak and kept LG within 2.5 games of second-place SSG Landers, who also lost on the day.
In a game that saw both teams’ foreign aces Kelly and Raul Alcantara go head-to-head, LG took the lead with two home runs.
Hong Chang-ki opened the scoring in the top of the first inning with a single to left, and two batters later, Austin Dean blasted a two-run homer to left to give LG an early lead.
Doosan got a run back in the bottom of the second when Kim Tae-geun singled up the middle with two outs.
However, LG answered with two runs in the top of the third after Austin singled to left and Oh Ji-hwan drew a walk, followed by Moon Bo-kyung’s three-run homer to right to make it 5-1.
In the fourth, Hong Chang-ki added a run with an RBI single to make it 6-1.
Doosan got one run back in the bottom of the seventh when Kang Seung-ho tripled and scored on a subsequent grounder.
However, LG scored a run in the top of the eighth on an infield single by Moon Sung-joo and then added two more in the top of the ninth.
LG’s Kelly pitched seven innings, allowing two runs on eight hits to earn the win, while Doosan’s Alcantara took the loss after allowing six runs on nine hits in 5⅔ innings.
Doosan has lost three straight after winning 11 straight.
In Incheon, the Hanwha Eagles held off a late rally by the SSG Landers, 4-3, thanks to a walk-off hit by Noh Si-hwan.
Hanwha took a 2-0 lead in the top of the third inning when Chae Eun-sung hit a two-run double to right-center field with runners on first and second.
In the fourth, after two infield singles, Lee Do-yoon made it 3-0 with an RBI single to right.
SSG rallied in the bottom of the sixth inning.
With two outs and runners on first and second, Park Sung-hyun singled up the middle to score a run.
Hanwha center fielder Moon Hyun-bin slipped the ball behind the plate, allowing first baseman Ha Jae-hoon to come home and tie the game at 2-3.
In the bottom of the eighth, Choi Ju-hwan tied the game at 3-3 with a solo home run to right field two batters later.
However, Hanwha scored the winning run in the top of the ninth when Noh Si-hwan singled to left field with runners on first and second.
KT Wiz pounded out 14 hits in a 10-2 victory over the NC Dinos in Changwon.
With the win, KT moved back into fifth place, half a game ahead of the Lotte Giants.
NC opened the scoring in the top of the first inning when Son As-seop led off with a double to center field, followed by Park Gun-woo’s double to right-center and Jason Martin’s RBI single to make it 2-0.
With runners on second and third in the top of the fifth, KT tied the game at 2-2 when Kim Sang-soo lined a single to left-center field.
In the seventh inning, they took advantage of their opponents’ mistakes and scored five runs.
After a double by Oh Yoon-seok and a single to left by Anthony Alford, who scored on a pitching error with runners on first and third to take a 3-2 lead, KT took a 7-2 lead after Moon Sang-chul singled and Park Byung-ho and Jang Sung-woo followed with back-to-back doubles.
With momentum on their side, KT added runs in the eighth and ninth innings to seal the victory.
Oh Yoon-seok came in as a pinch hitter and hit three consecutive doubles to drive in the winning run.
In Gwangju, the seventh-ranked KIA Tigers kept their ‘fall baseball’ hopes alive with a 6-5 win over Lotte.
KIA opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning when Socrates Brito singled with runners on first and second.
Kim Sun-bin then reached on an error by Lotte third baseman Han Dong-hee to load the bases, and Lee Woo-sung followed with a single to right to give KIA a 3-0 lead.
LOTTE responded in the top of the third inning.
With the bases loaded, foreign hitter Niko Goodrum hit a double to right-center field to load the bases and tie the game at 3-3.
However, KIA regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning when Kim Do-young singled to left center with two outs.
In the fifth inning, 먹튀검증 Choi Hyung-woo and Socrates hit back-to-back doubles to score one run, and two batters later, Lee Woo-sung singled up the middle to make it 6-3.
Lotte got a run back in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI single by Gudrum and another in the ninth on an RBI single by Noh Jin-hyuk to pull within 5-6, but couldn’t pull away.
KIA’s Lee Woo-sung led the offense, going 2-for-4 with a double and three RBIs.