Professional baseball LG Twins, aiming to advance to the Korean Series for the first time in 21 years since 2002 and win the combined championship (regular season, Korean Series) for the first time in 29 years since 1994, has entered the ‘Magic Number 10’ counter.
LG hit four home runs and defeated the Hanwha Eagles 5-1 in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League home game held at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on the 24th.
As a result, LG, with 78 wins, 48 losses, 2 draws, and a winning percentage of 0.619, recorded the ‘magic number 10’.
This means that if they win 10 games out of the remaining 16 games, they will be able to secure the championship.
The target of LG’s magic number calculation is not 2nd place KT, but 3rd place NC Dinos, which has a large number of games remaining.
On this day, LG scored the first run in the bottom of the third inning with Hong Chang-ki’s timely hit.
In the 4th inning, Austin Dean hit a solo home run in the middle of the month to take a 2-0 lead.
Hanwha made up for one point in the top of the 5th inning when Lee Jin-young drew a solo arch to the left.
However, LG ran away with a 3-1 lead again in the bottom of the 6th inning when Kim Hyun-soo hit a solo home run.
In the 7th inning, Oh Ji-hwan and Kim Min-seong hit consecutive home runs to tie the game.
LG Choi Won-tae, who was sent to the second team due to poor condition and appeared on the mound 14 days later, struck out 8 batters through the 7th inning and allowed 6 hits and 1 run to become the winning pitcher.
■ NC, a thrilling come-from-behind victory from 3-5 to 6-5 in the bottom of the 11th inning.
Newcomer Park Han-gyeol (19, NC Dinos), who joined this year, led the team to victory with a dramatic double in his first at-bat since his debut.
NC, trailing 3-5 in the game against the Doosan Bears held at Changwon NC Park on the 24th, achieved a thrilling come-from-behind victory with Park Han-gyeol’s 2-RBI double and an opponent’s error, scoring 3 runs and winning 6-5 in the bottom of the 11th inning.
NC, avenging its loss the previous day, maintained 3rd place and chased 2nd place KT Wiz by 2 games.
Doosan, ranked 4th, suffered a disappointing come-from-behind loss and was stopped from winning three games in a row.
The game was decided in the 11th inning of overtime.
Doosan took a 5-3 lead in the top of the 11th inning when the score was 3-3, and following Park Gye-beom’s surprise bunt hit, pinch hitter Heo Gyeong-min hit a two-run home run that went over the left fence.
However, in the bottom of the 11th inning, NC took advantage of Doosan bullpen Park Chi-guk’s control of the pitch to falter and load the bases with no outs.
Park Han-gyeol, who took his first at-bat in the first-team game with a chance to turn the game around, hit a double that went over the right fielder, and all three runners hit home, giving NC a come-from-behind victory of 6-5.
However, Park Han-gyeol’s walk-off hit was not recognized as it was officially recorded that the last runner scored due to an error in Doosan’s broadcast play.
Previously, NC took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning thanks to Seo Ho-cheol’s solo home run and Kwon Hee-dong’s timely hit.
Doosan, which was being dragged, tied the score at 2-2 in the top of the 4th inning when Kang Seung-ho hit a 2-RBI hit to left with one out and bases loaded.
In the top of the sixth inning, Kim Jae-hwan hit a solo home run to bring the score to 3-2.
However, NC tied the score at 3-3 with a wild pitch in the bottom of the 8th inning, sending the game into overtime.
■ ‘Park Kyung-soo’s two-run shot in the final’ KT defeats KIA and solidifies second place
In Gwangju, KT Wiz defeated the KIA Tigers by a score of 3-2 and solidified second place.
2nd place KT, which had 2 consecutive wins as K, beat 3rd place NC Dinos, who lost that day, by 3 games.
KT opened the game with a hit to right by leadoff hitter Park Kyung-soo in the top of the third inning, and after two outs, Anthony Alford hit a triple in the middle of the inning to take a 1-0 lead.
KIA, which had been silent, hit a left-field double in the bottom of the 8th inning when pinch hitter Lee Woo-seong hit a left-field double.
Pinch runner Park Jeong-woo, who replaced Lee Woo-sung, took advantage of a sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch to hit home to make it 1-1안전놀이터.
However, after Lee Ho-yeon walked with two outs in the top of the 9th inning, veteran Park Kyung-soo hit a two-run home run in the middle of the 9th inning to take the game to 3-1.
KIA made up for one run in the bottom of the 9th inning with Han Jun-su’s double and Socrates Brito’s timely hit, but was unable to turn it over in the end.
KT starter Ko Young-pyo pitched 7 innings, allowing 6 hits and no runs, but was unable to achieve victory.
■ 7th place Lotte beats 5th place SSG, giving hope for ‘fall baseball’
In Incheon, 7th place Lotte Giants defeated 5th place SSG Landers 8-1.
SSG’s leadoff hitter Choo Shin-soo hit a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning.
However, Lotte tied the score at 1-1 with Son Seong-bin’s timely hit in the top of the second inning.
In the 4th inning, with bases loaded and 1 out, Son Seong-bin’s timely hit and the opponent’s error resulted in 2 runs, turning the score around 3-1.
In the 5th inning, Han Dong-hee hit a solo home run in the middle of the month, and then Jeong Dae-seon drew a walk to make it 5-1.
Lotte added 1 run in the top of the 7th inning with Jeong Dae-seon’s sacrifice fly, and then added 2 more runs in the top of the 9th inning to tie the game.
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