The KIA Tigers of the Korean Baseball Organization have emerged as a strong contender in fall baseball with a three-game winning streak over the LG Twins.
LG is trailing only the NC Dinos (6-8) and KIA (6-8) in the season series.
Heading into fall baseball, LG (70-2, 47, 0.598) leads by 5.5 games, while second-place KT Wiz (65-3, 53, 0.551), third-place NC (63-2, 52, 0.548), fourth-place KIA (60-2, 52, 0.536), and fifth-place SSG Landers (62-2, 54, 0.534) are within two games of each other, leaving the postseason bracket in doubt.
The sixth-ranked Doosan Bears (59 wins, 1 tie, 57 losses, 0.509) remain three games behind fifth-ranked SSG and remain in the hunt for a spot in fall baseball.
At the bottom of the standings, the Hanwha Eagles (55 wins, 63 losses, 0.466) consolidated their eighth-place position with a six-game winning streak and moved within two games of the seventh-place Lotte Giants (55 wins, 63 losses, 0.466).
KIA’s season-high ‘eight-steal show’ gives them three straight wins over LG…60 wins for the season
Kia stole a season-high eight bases in a single game to take LG’s spirit out of the game, winning three straight and reaching the 60-win mark for the season.
Kia won its 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League home game against LG 8-7 on Tuesday at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju.
After sweeping the previous day’s doubleheader, KIA slumped to two losses after nine straight wins, but then reeled off three straight wins to move into second place.
With the losses, Kia’s lead over second-place KT Wiz was cut to two games.
Leader LG, which has 70 wins on the season, lost its third straight game and failed to close the gap on the second-place team.
Park Chan-ho and Kim Do-young stole two bases apiece, while Choi Won-jun, who came in as a pinch-hitter for Na Sung-bum, stole three times.
Combined with Socrates Brito’s stolen base, KIA had eight stolen bases in the game, making it the most active baseball team in the league against LG, which has led the league in stolen bases this season.
The most stolen bases by a team in a single game in Korean Baseball Organization history is 10, achieved by KIA’s predecessors, HaeTae and LG, respectively.
After KIA scored four runs in the first and second innings on two doubles by Na Sung-bum, a sacrifice fly by Kim Do-young, and an RBI single by Kim Sun-bin, LG responded with two runs in the third inning on a sacrifice fly by Hong Chang-ki.
After KIA scored three runs in the bottom of the inning on a hit and three walks, LG persevered, scoring two runs in the fifth and sixth innings to tie the game at 7-7.
The final run came in the bottom of the seventh inning. After Park Chan-ho led off with a single up the middle and stole second base, Choi Won-joon delivered a clean single to left field for the game-winning run.
SSG snaps three-game losing streak and six-game losing streak against KT with Park’s come-from-behind two-run blast
The fifth-place SSG Landers snapped a three-game losing streak and a six-game losing streak against KT with a 6-5 victory in Suwon, Korea, thanks to Park Sung-ho’s game-winning two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning.
SSG scored two runs in the first inning on a leadoff home run by Choo Shin-soo over the right field wall and three hits.
KT quickly tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the fourth when Jang Jang-woo hit a two-run double over the top of the center field fence with runners on first and second.
In the bottom of the fifth, after a walk to Kim Sang-soo and a hit by Kim Min-hyuk, KT scored three runs with runners on first and third on Anthony Alford’s double to left and Hwang Jae-gyun’s double to right to take a 5-2 lead.
SSG pulled within one run in the top of the sixth on Cho Hyung-woo’s sacrifice fly, then created drama against KT closer Kim Jae-yoon in the ninth.
After Choi Ji-hoon led off with a huge triple that hit the top of the right field wall, Choi Jung immediately followed with a single up the middle to cut the deficit to 4-5.
Park Sung-hyun, who came up from second base with one out, drove a two-run arch over the right field fence for a distance of 120 meters, reversing the win-loss pendulum that had tipped in KT’s favor.
Fireman Seo Jin-yong came on in the bottom of the ninth to collect his 35th save and lock the back door.
■ Doosan Alcantara pitches 6 innings of 1-run ball for his 12th win…Yang Seok-hwan hits a 3-run homer for No. 19
The Doosan Bears defeated the Samsung Lions 8-2 at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul.
Starting pitcher Raul Alcantara pitched six innings of one run (unearned) for his 12th win, and the bats came alive at the right time.
With two outs and runners on first and third in the second inning, Kang Seung-ho ripped a double to left-center field. He came home on the next batter’s grounder to make it 3-0.
In the fifth inning, Yang Seok-hwan hit the game-winning home run to left field with runners on first and second. Yang is one home run shy of 20 for the third straight season.
Doosan took a 6-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth when Jose Rojas doubled to left field with two outs.
■ Moon Hyun-bin hits three-run homer, Hanwha wins sixth straight…Kiwoom loses seventh in a row
In a back-and-forth affair that saw 26 hits exchanged at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, the Hanwha Eagles held off the Kiwoom Heroes 9-8 for their sixth straight win. Last-place Kiwoom fell to a seventh straight loss.
Hanwha scored five runs in the third inning, including a three-run homer by Moon Hyun-bin, and four runs in the fourth inning, including a two-run arch by Chae Eun-sung, to take a 9-4 lead.
Kiwoom scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth on Ronnie Dawson’s RBI single to right, a wild pitch by the Hanwha pitcher, and Song Sung-moon’s RBI double to cut the deficit to 8-9 in the eighth.
Kiwoom had the tying run on second in the bottom of the ninth, but Dawson’s hit was brilliantly picked off by Hanwha shortstop Lee Do-yoon.
NC Peddie, who missed his first complete game, is on pace to win, ERA, and strikeout trifecta
The NC Dinos defeated the Lotte Giants 3-1 at Anbang in Changwon.
NC starter Eric Peddie, the best pitcher of the year, narrowly missed his first complete game of the season with two outs.
Peddy, who had allowed just two hits and struck out nine while holding the Lotte bats scoreless through eight innings, gave up an infield single to Yoo Kang-nam in the top of the ninth to give the Giants a 3-0 lead, then gave up a double to Yoon Dong-hee in left-center one out later.
Lee Yong-chan took the baton and pitched a scoreless inning.
With her 8 1/3 innings of one-run ball, Peddie improved to 18-6 on the season and lowered her ERA to 2.21, extending her home winning streak to eight games.
He also upped his strikeout total to 169, securing the trifecta of wins, ERA, and strikeouts.
There have been 37 complete games in both major leagues this year in Nippon Professional Baseball and 19 in both major leagues in American baseball, but none in the KBO, which has played 83 percent of its schedule.메이저놀이터
NC took a quick lead in the top of the third inning when Choi Jung-won hit a leadoff triple and Son As-seop scored on a ground ball.
In the fifth, they added two runs on back-to-back doubles by Son and Seo Ho-cheol, an error by Lotte third baseman Park Seung-wook, and Jason Martin’s single to right.
LOTTE was unfortunate that Ahn Chi-hong’s hit with two outs in the ninth was caught in a picturesque diving catch by NC shortstop Kim Joo-won.