The SSG Landers of the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) leapfrogged into sole possession of fourth place with a six-game winning streak. SSG hit three home runs in a 7-2 victory over the Hanwha Eagles in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on Saturday .SSG, which was tied for fourth place with the NC Dinos before the game, pushed NC to fifth place by half a game. They also eliminated the gap between them and the third-place Doosan Bears, keeping them in contention for a direct ticket to the semi-playoffs. SSG center fielder Choi Jeong-jeong led the way with two home runs on the day Choi hit his 27th home run of the season in the first inning against Hanwha starter Lee Ita Yang, and then activated his 28th home run of the season in the third inning to extend the lead to 5-0.With his first home run, Choi became the sixth player to hit a home run against his former club this season, and with his third home run, he recorded his 26th career multi-hit game. With league home run leader Noh Si-hwan (Hanwha) suspended from the Hangzhou Asian Games for 31, Choi extended his lead to three. Shortly after Choi’s second homer, Guillermo Heredia and Han Yoo-seom hit back-to-back doubles to bring in a run, but SSG took a 7-2 lead in the sixth inning when Oh Tae-gon hit his fifth homer of the season. SSG starter Moon Seung-won earned his fifth win of the season with six innings of seven-hit ball, two walks, three strikeouts and two earned runs, his third quality start in his last four starts (six or more innings and three earned runs or less).Hanwha was unable to capitalize on two infield grounders with the bases loaded in the fourth inning, dropping one spot in the standings from eighth to ninth. In Jamsil, the KIA Tigers, who lost starting shortstop Park Chan-ho to injury in addition to Na Sung-beom and Choi Hyung-woo, kept their fall baseball hopes alive with a 3-2 comeback win over the LG Twins. With the win, sixth-place KIA closed the gap on fifth-place NC to 3.5 games. KIA has eight games left in the regular season, while NC has nine .LG, which returned to its home field of Jamsil Stadium for the first time since clinching first place in the regular season three days ago, took the lead in the second inning on a triple by leadoff hitter Austin Dean and a sacrifice fly by Park Dong-won. In the seventh, with runners on first and third, Park scored on an exquisite bunt infield single to make it 2-0.After being held scoreless by LG starter Lee Jung-yong through six innings, the Kia bats came alive in the bottom of the eighth. After leadoff hitter Byun Woo-hyuk walked and Kim Kyu-sung singled to put runners on first and third, Kim Do-young singled .After a sacrifice bunt by Park Jeong-woo put runners on second and third, Kim hit a two-run single to center to put the game out of reach .In the ninth inning, KIA closer Jung Hae-young preserved the one-run victory and earned his 19th save of the season. The game was attended by 23,750 fans at Jamsil Stadium .It was the 42nd sellout in the KBO this season, and the sixth for LG .In Suwon, the Samsung Lions defeated the KT Wiz 6-2 behind the bat of Koo Ja-rook and the debut win of rookie Lee Ho-sung. The game, which was tightly contested early on, tipped in Samsung’s favor when KT starter Wes Benjamin complained of arm discomfort and left the game after just two innings .Samsung opened the scoring in the third inning against reliever Lee Chae-ho, drawing two walks and a hit-by-pitch to load the bases before Koo Ja-rook doubled to center field. Kang Min-ho followed with a sacrifice fly to center field to make it 3-0.In the top of the fifth, leadoff hitter Kang Jun-seo doubled and scored on an RBI single by Koo Ja-rook to extend the lead to 4-0.KT pulled within one run in the bottom of the fifth on Hwang Jae-gyun’s fourth home run of the season and Shin Bon-ki’s sacrifice fly in the sixth. Samsung then added another run in the eighth on Koo Ja-rook’s 11th home run of the season .Oh Seung-hwan, who needs one more save to become the first KBO player to reach 400 career saves, began to warm up in the bullpen as Samsung led 5-2 through eight innings. However, he would have to wait until the top of the ninth inning when Lee Jae-hyun hit a two-run double to make it 6-2.Oh Seung-hwan took the mound in the bottom of the ninth and pitched a scoreless inning to preserve the win .Samsung’s Koo Ja-uk went 3-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs to raise his season batting average to .344.He is just three shy of the league’s batting leader, Son Ah-seop (NC Dinos – 0.347).Samsung rookie pitcher Lee Ho-sung earned his first career victory with five innings of 스포츠토토링크 four-hit ball (one home run), four walks and six strikeouts.
