The Kia Tigers are one step closer to winning the regular season title with a comfortable three-game winning streak.
Kia won 7-5 at home against the LG Twins in the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League on Wednesday at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju.
With its eighth straight win over LG, Kia maintained its 6.5-game lead over the second-place Samsung Lions and reduced its magic number to 11 for a direct berth in the Korean Series.
With Eliezer Hernandez and Yang Hyun-jong starting the game, it was LG who struck first.
LG took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Austin Dean hit a solo home run over the left field fence.
Kia tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning after Socrates Brito singled, Kim Do-young singled to left, and Choi Hyung-woo doubled to right-center.
With runners on second and third, Kim Sun-bin doubled to left center to make it 3-1.
LG got one run back in the top of the fifth on an RBI single by Hong Chang-ki, but Kia answered with RBI singles by Park Chan-ho and Choi Hyung-woo to make it 5-2 in the bottom of the inning.
LG scored a solo home run in the top of the sixth inning by Oh Ji-hwan, but KIA took a 6-3 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning when Hong Jong-pyo hit a lucky hit.
LG scored a run in the top of the eighth on a groundout with runners on second and third, but KIA added a run in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single by Han Seung-taek to preserve the lead.
Yang Hyeon-jong earned the win, allowing three runs on six hits, while Hernandez took the loss after giving up six runs on nine hits in six innings.
In Daegu, the Samsung Lions hit four home runs to beat the Lotte Giants 5-1.
Second-place Samsung, which snapped a two-game losing streak, extended its lead to 3.5 games over third-place LG, which also lost on the day.
Lotte took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning when Ko Seung-min singled to left field with two outs.
Samsung answered back in the bottom of the fourth inning when Park Byung-ho hit a huge solo arch over the left-center field fence to tie the game at 1-1.
It was Byung-ho Park's 19th home run of the season and 399th of his career.
Two batters later, Jeon Byung-woo also hit a solo shot to left to make it 2-1.
After a solo home run by Koo Ja-rook in the sixth inning, Samsung tacked on two more runs in the eighth on an RBI single by Koo and an RBI double by Lewin Diaz.
In Daejeon, the Hanwha Eagles pounded out 13 hits in a 7-1 victory over the Doosan Bears.
Sixth-ranked Hanwha, which snapped a two-game losing streak, moved to within two games of fifth-ranked KT WIZ, while fourth-ranked Doosan, which lost its fourth straight, fell to within half a game of KT.
Doosan scored the first run in the top of the fifth inning when Kang Seung-ho, Heo Kyung-min and Lee Yoo-chan hit consecutive singles.
However, Hanwha answered right back after an offensive shift.
After back-to-back singles by Jang Jin-hyuk and Lee Do-yoon in the bottom of the fifth, Moon Hyun-bin blasted a three-run home run to left-center field to make it 3-1.
In the sixth, Chae Eun-sung hit a two-run homer to left to make it 5-1 before Noh Si-hwan hit a two-run double in the bottom of the seventh to seal the game.
Hanwha starter Moon Dong-ju struck out eight and allowed just one run on four hits through six innings to earn his seventh win of the season.
In Changwon, where the 9th and 10th place teams met, the NC Dinos defeated the Kiwoom Heroes 11-5.
NC took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning, capitalizing on three errors.
In the bottom of the second, Seo Ho-cheol singled and Matt Davidson hit his 40th home run of the season, a two-run shot to left, to make it 6-0.
Kiwoom got two runs back in the top of the third when Lee Joo-hyung hit a two-run homer to right.
However, NC scored one run in the fifth and sixth innings before adding three more runs on four hits in the bottom of the eighth to seal the deal.
Ninth-ranked NC extended its winning streak to four games, while last-place Kiwoom suffered its fifth straight loss. 바카라사이트 추천