(MHN Sports Reporter Lee Kyu-won) “I’m happy~I’m happy for Hanwha. I’m happy~I’m happy for the Eagles”
The Hanwha Eagles of the Korean baseball organization earned a thrilling victory over the Samsung Lions thanks to Lee Jin-young’s pinch-hit home run in the fifth inning.
Hanwha snapped a two-game losing streak with a 10-5 home win over Samsung in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon on Thursday.
The fans, who filled 12,000 seats at Hanwha Life Eagles Park, cheered loudly as Lee Jin-young hit a grand slam home run.
With the score at 10-5, they enjoyed the cool afterglow of the home run on a summer night with wave rides.
From the beginning of the game, Hanwha batters pounded Samsung starter Albert Suarez.
In the top of the first inning, after a Jung Eun-won single and back-to-back walks to Chae Eun-sung and Kim In-hwan loaded the bases, Hanwha took the lead on Noh Si-hwan’s sacrifice fly to right field.
Jang Jin-hyuk followed with a single to right field, and Choi Jae-hoon followed with a two-run double to extend the lead to 4-0.
Hanwha, which had lost the previous two games against Samsung, didn’t let up on the offense in the second inning.
With two outs, Chae Eun-sung and Kim In-hwan hit back-to-back doubles to score two runs.
Hanwha starter Ricardo Sanchez, who had started the game with solid support from the bats, was shaken by an error and gave up two runs in the third inning.
With runners on first and second, Kim Dong-yeop’s hit was misplayed by the shortstop and instead of ending the inning, the bases were loaded and he gave up an RBI double to Jose Pirela.
In the fifth, he gave up back-to-back singles to Kang Min-ho and Lee Jae-hyun with the bases loaded and two more runs before turning the mound over to Kim Bum-soo at 6-4.
Kim Bum-soo gave up a pushing double to the first batter, Kim Jae-sung, and Hanwha cut the deficit to 6-5.
It was pinch-hitter Lee Jin-young who saved the day.
In the fifth inning, Hanwha loaded the bases with singles by Chae Eun-sung and Noh Si-hwan and a walk by Choi Jae-hoon, and brought in Lee for Kim Tae-yeon.
Lee pulled a two-pitch curveball from Samsung’s second pitcher, Woo Kyu-min, over the left-center field wall for his first career grand slam.
The pinch-hit home run was the first for Lee and the first for the 2023 KBO season.
■ No. 4 NC closes to within 3.5 games of No. 3 Lotte…LG’s second sweep of the season
The NC Dinos swept a three-game series in Jamsil over the weekend.
The Dinos won 3-1 against the visiting LG Twins of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Jamsil Stadium on Thursday behind a strong pitching performance from starter Lee Jae-hak.
With the victory, the fourth-ranked NC swept a three-game series in Jamsil and moved within 3.5 games of the third-place Lotte Giants.
Lee Jae-hak was the star of the show.
The southpaw pitched six innings, allowing two hits and one unearned run (unearned) with three strikeouts to earn his first win of the season.
NC took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning after Jason Martin singled to left and Park Se-hyuk walked to put runners on second and third with two outs.
In the top of the third, with runners on first and third, Martin made it 3-0 with a single to left.
After being held to two hits through six innings, LG scored one run in the bottom of the seventh on Kim Hyun-soo’s infield grounder with runners on second and third on two wild pitches and a fastball.
In the bottom of the ninth, Kim Si-hoon, who came in for Lee Yong-chan, who was removed from the first team for a “drinking wave,” gave up two hits and no walks to preserve the win.
LG dropped its second home three-game series of the season, following a three-game sweep at the hands of the KIA Tigers on April 28-30.
LG closer Ko Woo-seok, who made his return from a back injury more than a month ago, came on in the top of the ninth and struck out the side in order.
■ Lee Jung-hoo ties the game + Kim Hye-sung wins the game…Kiwoom gets first win after eight games against SSG
In Incheon, the Kiwoom Heroes defeated the SSG Landers 4-3 thanks to home runs by Lee Jung-hoo and Kim Hye-sung.
With the win, Kiwoom snapped an eight-game losing streak against SSG this season.
It also snapped a nine-game losing streak against SSG dating back to last season.
SSG took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning when Cho Hyung-woo singled to left field with runners on first and second.
In the third, Choi Ju-hwan made it 2-0 with a solo shot to right.
Trailing 2-0, Kiwoom got a run back in the top of the fifth on Kim Hwijip’s double and another in the top of the sixth on Lim Byung-wook’s RBI single to tie the game at 2-2.
However, SSG took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth when Ha Jae-hoon hit a leadoff triple and came home on an error.
Kiwoom, who was deep in defeat, turned the tide with two home runs in the top of the eighth inning.
Lee Jung-hoo led off with a solo home run to right field off SSG’s third pitcher Choi Min-joon to tie the game at 3-3.
One inning later, Kim Hye-sung hit a solo shot to center field to make it 4-3.
In the bottom of the ninth, 먹튀검증 Kiwoom got Lim Chang-min to strike out the side to preserve the win.
With his fourth save of the season (1-1), Lim became the 20th pitcher in the KBO to reach 100 career saves.
■ ‘Six-run sixth inning’ explosion helps KIA snap two-game losing streak against Lotte
The Kia Tigers swept the Lotte Giants 6-0 at Sajik Stadium in Busan thanks to the cohesiveness of their bats.
The tense 0-0 balance was broken in the top of the sixth inning when Lee Yi-ri and Han Hyun-hee started the game.
The Tigers pounded out eight hits in the inning, scoring six runs and quickly taking the lead.
After leadoff hitter Ko Jong-wook led off with a double to center field, Socrates Brito followed with a double to right-center field.
Lotte pulled starter Han Hyun-hee and brought in Kim Jin-wook, but KIA veteran Choi Hyung-woo lined a single to right field for a 2-0 lead.
After Kim Sun-bin came through with a bunt single to put runners on first and second, KIA made it 4-0 when Lee Woo-sung hit a two-run double off reliever Kim Do-gyu.
In the next at-bat, Kim Kyu-sung singled to right to drive in another run, and two batters later, Ryu Ji-hyuk singled to center to make it 6-0.
KIA starter Lee Yi-ri allowed two hits and four walks in five innings, but struck out eight to earn his fifth win of the season.
■ Park Byung-ho had two hits and two RBIs as KT swept road-bound Doosan for second straight day.
The last-place KT WIZ picked up their second straight win with a 5-2 victory over the Doosan Bears at home in Suwon.
Doosan got on the board first in the top of the second inning when Jose Rojas hit a two-run home run over the right field fence.
However, KT quickly turned the tide in the bottom of the inning.
With runners on first and second, Kim Sang-soo doubled down the left field line to score a run and then Kang Baek-ho followed with a two-run single to right to make it 3-2.
In the fifth, Park Byung-ho singled to left and Jang Sung-woo doubled to left-center to make it 4-2, and in the sixth, Park drove in a run with a single to center.
Byung-ho Park led the offense with two hits and two RBIs in four at-bats.
KT’s second pitcher, Joo Woo-kwon, came on in relief in the top of the third and pitched two scoreless innings of one-hit ball to earn the win.