Professional baseball’s Hanwha Eagles ended a three-game losing streak after a lot of hard work. The LG Twins put an empty end to the seesaw game with a decisive bone head play.
Daejeon Hanwha Life Insurance Eagles Park on the 23rd, where Hanhwa led LG by 7-6 by one point. In the top of the ninth, LG seized the last chance to turn around as lead batter Moon Bo-kyung went on base with a heavy hit. After one out, Kim Ki-yeon picked a walk and continued the chance to first and second base.
The next batter, Seo Geon-chang, hit the second pitch of Hanwha pitcher Park Sang-won. As the batted ball flew high over the infield, the referee called an infield fly. The infield fly is a rule created to prevent the ‘expediency’ of the defensive team aiming for a double out by intentionally dropping a ball when the runners are on 1st, 2nd or full base with no out or 1 out. Even if the fielder fails to catch the ball and drops it on the ground, the batter runner is automatically treated as a fly out.
However, it is a rule for runners to keep the existing base during the infield fly. However, LG’s first base runner, Kim Ki-yeon, did not seem to have seen the referee’s infield fly call. He started on second base and quickly reached the next base. In the end, Seo Kun-chang was automatically out and Kim Ki-yeon was tagged out at second base, and the game ended as 토토사이트it was. Hanwha Dugout was excited by unexpected luck, and LG fell one notch to second place as it failed to win 5 in a row.
It was a close match in which both teams put in 15 pitchers (8 for Hanwha and 7 for LG). Hanwha made this day ‘Bullpen Day’ and sent out bullpen pitcher Lee Tae-yang as a ‘tinker starter’. It was a measure to give Moon Dong-ju, the existing starter, a break. While Lee Tae-yang completed his mission by blocking the first two innings with no runs, the other line scored 4 runs at the end of the second inning and dismissed LG starter Kang Hyo-jong early.
LG’s counterattack was also strong. He attacked Kim Seo-hyun, who came out as Hanwha’s second pitcher, and chased 1 point in the top of the 3rd inning. In the beginning of the 5th inning, Hanwha veteran bullpen Jeong Woo-ram was beaten to turn the game around.
At the beginning of the 8th inning, the gear was successfully reversed. Park Dong-won, Seo Geon-chang, and Park Hae-min calmly earned consecutive walks while Hanwha’s 7th pitcher Kang Jae-min’s pitch was shaken. While catcher Park Sang-eon failed to catch the 3rd pitch forkball of Hanwha pitcher Park Sang-won, who had started with 1 bases loaded, third base runner Shin Min-jae scored a come-from-behind run. Then, Hong Chang-ki hit a timely hit in the middle and added one more point.
The game, which seemed to end as it was, turned into a new flow at the end of the 8th inning. Lee Seong-gon put a sacrifice bunt on the first and second bases, which were made with Hanwha Noh Si-hwan and Chae Eun-seong’s consecutive hits, and an ‘accident’ occurred when LG pitcher Jung Woo-young and third baseman Moon Bo-kyung ran into each other to handle the batted ball. All three players including the batter and the runner survived and the bases were safely loaded. As a result of the next batting match, Eun-Won Jeong tied the score with consecutive timely hits. Oh Seon-jin scored a come-from-behind finish with a sacrifice fly in the ensuing run with bases loaded.
Seohyun Kim, a rookie pitcher with the Hanwha fastball, threw a fastball with a maximum speed of 159.5 km per hour (according to the team’s Trackman standard) on this day as well. He blocked 2 innings with 1 hit, 4 strikeouts and 1 run, inflating the hopes of Hanwha fans who are expecting a ‘fastball finisher’.
Meanwhile, Choi Hyeong-woo of the KIA Tigers set a new record for the most doubles (465) in the KBO League career by hitting a double at the right time in the bottom of the first inning against the Samsung Lions in Gwangju. The previous record was 464 left by Doosan coach Lee Seung-yeop. Choi Hyung-woo also added a solo home run at the end of the 7th inning, leading the KIA to a 5-3 victory.
SSG Landers defeated the Kiwoom Heroes 9-7 with pinch hitter Joo-Hwan Choi’s 3-run homer at the end of the 8th inning. The pinch hit home run is the first record this season. SSG went on a 4-game winning streak, pushing LG out and rising to first place. Kiwoom is on a three-game losing streak.
The Lotte Giants won the game against the NC Dinos in Changwon 5-3, showing off their back heart by scoring 5 points at once in the beginning of the 9th inning, trailing 0-3. Pajuk’s 5th consecutive win. On the other hand, NC fell into a shocking five-game losing streak as closer pitcher Lee Yong-chan collapsed.
In Jamsil, Doosan Bears and KT Wiz were tied 1-1 after 12 overtime matches. This is the second draw this season. KT starter Koh Young-pyo (7 innings, 1 run) and Doosan starter Choi Won-joon (6 innings, 1 run) fought side by side, but withdrew without a win or loss.