KIA Tigers Beats Samsung Lions and Takes the Lead

Choi Hyung-woo's Two Home Run and Na Sung-beom's Grand Slam Explosion... KIA Beats Samsung and Takes the Lead

'Oh Ji-hwan's grand slam' LG, SSG Kim Kwang-hyun's early departure, 3 consecutive wins.

'Castano's 8 innings, 1 run' NC, defeats Hanwha... kt, 8 consecutive wins against Kiwoom.

The KIA Tigers have shaken off the pursuit of the Samsung Lions and are gearing up for a solo run.

KIA won 10-5 in the home game against Samsung in the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League held at Gwangju Kia Champions Field on the 17th, led by home runs from Choi Hyung-woo and Na Sung-beom.

With this, 1st place KIA pushed 2nd place Samsung by 5.5 games and continued its lead.

In the bottom of the 1st inning, KIA opened the scoring with a right-field double by Socrates Brito, and Kim Do-young brought in a center-field sacrifice fly to score the first point.

In the 3rd inning, Choi Hyeong-woo hit a right-field two-run homer to make it 3-0.

Samsung tied the score at 3-3 in the top of the fourth with two outs on Kim Young-woong's two-run double and Park Byung-ho's RBI single. 안전놀이터

However, after KIA switched pitches and had two outs and bases loaded, Kim Do-young and Choi Hyung-woo walked consecutive pitches, and Na Sung-beom hit a powerful grand slam to widen the score gap to 9-3.

Samsung recovered two runs in the top of the fifth with Ryu Ji-hyeok's triple, Lee Jae-hyun's double, and Kang Min-ho's center-field RBI single.

However, KIA took the lead 10-5 in the bottom of the 7th with a sacrifice fly by Han Jun-su following a double by Kim Sun-bin.

Samsung starting pitcher Danny Reyes was taken off after giving up 4 runs through 3 innings, and KIA's Yang Hyeon-jong was replaced with 2 outs in the 5th inning with the score 9-5, missing the requirement for a winning pitcher.

In Jamsil, where a grand slam battle was taking place, the LG Twins defeated the SSG Landers 12-9.

LG took the lead in the bottom of the first with Moon Bo-kyung's left-field double with one out and runners on first and second base, and added two more runs with Park Dong-won's infield hit and a subsequent grounder to make it 3-0.

In the bottom of the third with one out and bases loaded, Oh Ji-hwan hit a grand slam over the right-center fence off SSG starting pitcher Kim Kwang-hyun to make it 7-0.

LG extended the lead to 8-0 with back-to-back home runs by the next batter, Kim Beom-seok.

SSG recovered one run in the top of the fourth, but LG added three more runs after a wild pitch and Moon Bo-kyung's two-run homer after the offense and defense switched, making it 11-1.

SSG went on the counterattack and scored seven runs in the top of the seventh, including a grand slam by Guillermo Heredia, to close the gap to 8-11.

LG, who was becoming anxious, took a breather after adding one point in the bottom of the 8th inning with Park Dong-won's sacrifice fly, and SSG was only able to add one point in the top of the 9th inning due to an opponent's error.

LG's starting pitcher Dietrick Enns pitched well for 6 innings, allowing 4 hits and 1 run, but SSG's Kim Kwang-hyun was replaced after allowing 8 runs on 9 hits, including two home runs, in 3 innings.

At Gocheok Dome, KT Wiz defeated Kiwoom Heroes 9-2 and won four games in a row.

KT scored first in the top of the first inning with a leadoff home run by Mel Rojas.

In the second inning, KT added one run with Bae Jeong-dae's double, and in the top of the fifth inning, Kim Sang-soo's two-RBI triple and Moon Sang-cheol's RBI single increased the score to 5-0.

In the top of the sixth inning, they scored four runs, including a two-run home run by Kang Baek-ho, and decided the game early.

Kiwoom recovered one run in the bottom of the sixth inning due to a KT error, and in the bottom of the eighth inning, Song Seong-moon hit a solo home run, but it was not enough to recover the runs lost.

KT emerged as a 'natural enemy' against Kiwoom, winning eight games in a row after losing one game this season.

KT starter William Cuevas became the winning pitcher after allowing 3 hits, 4 walks, and 1 unearned run in 6 innings.

Kang Baek-ho and Rojas, who hit their 23rd home runs each, tied for 2nd place in the category.

In Changwon, the NC Dinos defeated the Hanwha Eagles 5-1 to make it three straight wins.

NC scored the first run in the bottom of the first with two outs on a left-field hit by Park Geon-woo, followed by a double by Matt Davidson over the center field wall, and then consecutive RBI hits by Kwon Hee-dong and Kim Hwi-jip to make it 3-0.

In the fourth, with one out and runners on first and third, Kim Joo-won's sacrifice fly and Park Si-won's double added two more runs to make it 5-0.

Hanwha, who was trailing, barely avoided defeat in the top of the eighth when Kim Tae-yeon hit a solo home run over the left-field wall with two outs.

NC starting pitcher Daniel Castano stayed on the mound until the eighth inning, allowing eight hits but striking out two and allowing only one run.

Hanwha's starting pitcher Jaime Barria allowed 9 hits and 5 runs in 4 innings, suffering the loss.

Hanwha, in 9th place, fell into a 3 game losing streak again.