The end is in sight! LG 1st…kt-NC 2nd…Doosan-SSG-KIA Fall Baseball Showdown
By Kyuwon Lee, MHN Sports Reporter) The 2023 KBO regular season has begun to solidify the standings with less than 20 games remaining out of a total of 720 games, 144 games per team.
The LG Twins (75 wins, 2 ties, 47 losses, 0.615), led by Moon Bo-kyung’s home run binge, have won five straight games to take a 6.5-game lead over the second-place KT Wiz and are closing in on their first regular season title in 29 years.
Second-place KT (70 wins, 3 ties, 55 losses, 0.560) and third-place NC Dinos (66 wins, 2 ties, 53 losses, 0.555) are separated by one game for the final playoff spot.
Three and a half games behind NC, the fourth-place Doosan Bears (64 wins, 1 tie, 58 losses, 0.525), fifth-place SSG Landers (63 wins, 2 ties, 59 losses, 0.516), and sixth-place KIA Tigers (60 wins, 2 ties, 58 losses, 0.508) are in an unforgiving battle for the fifth and final fall baseball invitation.
LG withstood a late rally from the visiting Kia to take a 4-3 victory in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on April 19.
LG, which had set a target of 85 wins for a direct ticket to the Korean Series, has collected 75 wins (47 losses and two ties).
With just 20 games left in the regular season, LG needs just 10 more wins to reach its self-imposed goal.
Kia, on the other hand, dropped the game despite pitching Yang Hyun-jong and fell to a six-game losing streak on the threshold of fall baseball.
LG’s offense was led by third baseman Moon Bo-kyung.
In her first at-bat of the second inning, Moon took advantage of a two-pitch fastball from Yang Hyun-jong and smashed the first run of the game over the right field wall.
In the third inning, with runners on first and third, Moon once again blasted a three-run home run to make it 4-0.
After hitting eight home runs in 2021 and nine in 2022, Moon reached 10 home runs for the first time in her career.
It was also Moon’s first career back-to-back home run.
KIA started the rally with a run-scoring home run by Choi Hyung-woo in the sixth inning and then cut the deficit to one run in the eighth inning on a two-run double by Na Sung-beom.
The LG bench then used a rainstorm to bring in closer Go Woo-seok with no outs in the eighth.
He faced runners on first and third in the ninth, but got Kim Do-young to pop out to end the inning and preserve the win.
LG starter Lee Ji-gang earned his first career win with five innings of four-hit ball, one walk and one strikeout.
KIA starter Yang Hyun-jong lasted seven innings with five hits, two walks and four strikeouts, but gave up four runs on two home runs to Moon Bo-kyung to take his 10th loss of the season.
KT’s Ko Young-pyo wins 12 games and makes 20 quality starts for the third consecutive season.
In Suwon, KT WIZ swept the Samsung Lions 7-1, led by back-to-back home runs from Kang Baek-ho and Park Byung-ho.
Second-place KT maintained its 6.5-game lead over league leader LG. They are one game behind third-place NC.
KT took control of the game in the first inning with back-to-back home runs by Kang Baek-ho (Season 8) and Park Byung-ho (Season 15).
Trailing 2-1 in the fourth inning, back-to-back RBI singles by Choi Sung-ho and Hwang Jae-gyun plated two runs, and in the eighth, Hwang’s RBI double and Kang Baek-ho’s RBI single sealed the win.
KT starter Ko Young-pyo, who pitched six innings of nine-hit ball with two walks and four strikeouts, improved to 12-7 on the season and tossed 20 quality starts (six or more innings and three or fewer earned runs) for the third straight year.
NC Peddy 19 wins + ERA + Strikeouts in 3 straight starts
In Jamsil, the NC Dinos, led by ace Eric Peddie, defeated the Doosan Bears 2-1 to keep their hold on third place.
On the day, Pedi dominated his opponent with six innings of one-hit ball, 106 pitches, one walk, and 12 strikeouts.
His previous single-game high of 11 strikeouts, set twice this season, was surpassed by one.
In the top of the third inning, Pedi gave up a single to Park Kye-beom and a walk to Kim Jae-ho to put runners on first and second.
After striking out Yang Seok-hwan, he retired six straight batters until the second batter of the fifth inning, Park Kye-beom.
In the sixth, Pedi retired Jung Soo-bin and Kim Jae-ho on strikeouts before getting Yang Seok-hwan to fly out to shortstop to end the inning.
After taking a 2-0 lead with Park Gun-woo’s leadoff single in the third and Kwon Hee-dong’s sixth home run of the season in the sixth, NC was briefly threatened in the bottom of the ninth when Yang gave up a run-scoring single to Yang Ji, but held on for the 2-1 win.
With the win, Peddie remained atop the league in wins (19), ERA (2.13) and strikeouts (181) and moved closer to the pitcher’s triple crown.
SSG’s Seo Jin-yong makes 36 saves, tying Ha Jae-hoon’s franchise record.
In Daejeon, the SSG Landers came from behind to beat the Hanwha Eagles 5-3 and snap a five-game losing streak.
SSG moved back into fifth place, knocking the KIA Tigers out of sixth place after one game.
It was Hanwha who struck first.
Hanwha scored three runs in the fourth inning, led by Kim Tae-yeon’s RBI single and Chae Eun-sung’s 18th two-run homer of the season.
SSG, which was still trailing, got a run back in the sixth on a leadoff home run by Guillermo Heredia and a sacrifice fly by Ha Jae-hoon.
In the top of the seventh, Choi Jeong-jeong tied the game at 3-3 with an RBI single before Han Yoo-seom hit the game-winning RBI double.
SSG starter Moon Seung-won pitched a career-high eight innings, allowing four hits (one home run) and three runs while striking out three to improve to 6-1 on the season.
SSG closer Seo Jin-yong earned his 36th save of the season, tying Ha Jae-hoon’s club record for most saves.
Kiwoom’s Lee Ju-hyung goes 3-for-5 with a home run, three RBIs, and three runs scored as they snap an eight-game losing streak
In Busan, the Kiwoom Heroes snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 6-3 victory over the Lotte Giants behind the bat of Lee Ju-hyung.
Lee Ju-hyung hit his sixth home run of the season in the seventh inning when he took a 2-3 pitch from Lotte’s second pitcher Choi Joon-yong on the body.
In the ninth inning, with the score tied 3-3 and runners on second and third, Lee put his knee on a six-pitch body pitch from Kim Won-joong and tried to take off with a body pitch, but was stopped by the umpire who pointed out his intentions.
He then took a forked ball from Kim Won-joong for a two-run triple. 카지노
He then came home on a sacrifice fly by Song Sung-moon to score the winning run.
Kiwoom’s Lee went 3-for-5 with his sixth home run of the season, three RBIs and three runs scored.