The defending champion SSG Landers went on a winning streak at the end of the regular season.
SSG came from behind to win 4-3 against the NC Dinos of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on Friday.
SSG, which has won five straight games, moved up one spot to tie for fourth place with NC, which has lost six straight games.
The Doosan Bears had a two-day break without a game, but moved into a tie for third place from fourth the day before.
NC, which has been showing signs of a late-season collective slump, took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Park Min-woo singled up the middle and stole second, and Jason Martin followed with a single up the middle two batters later.
In the second inning, Seo Ho-cheol and Park Se-hyuk hit back-to-back singles and Kim Han-byul scored on an infield grounder to make it 2-0.
However, SSG tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the inning after Han Yoo-seom was hit by a pitch and Ha Jae-hoon doubled down the left field line, followed by Kim Sung-hyun’s RBI single and Kim Min-sik’s sacrifice fly.
In the third, Oh Tae-gon drew a walk, advanced to third on a stolen base and a wild pitch and scored on Choi Joo-hwan’s grounder to make it 3-2, and in the fourth, Kim Chan-hyung singled in a run to make it 4-2.
NC cut the deficit to 4-5 in the top of the fifth when Park Gun-woo hit a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded, but could not overcome the one-run deficit.
In Suwon, the KT Wiz defeated the KIA Tigers 5-3.
With their second straight win, KT extended their lead in the standings to 3.5 games over the third-place Doosan Bears.
KIA took the lead in the top of the third inning when Kim Do-young hit a two-run home run to left field.
However, KT tied the game in the bottom of the inning as Hwang Jae-gyun singled with runners on first and third and an error, followed by Park Byung-ho’s RBI single to left and Jang Jang-woo’s sacrifice fly to make it 4-2.
In the fifth, Kim Sang-soo hit a solo home run to make it 5-2.
KIA got one run back in the top of the sixth when Kim Do-young drew a walk and stole second, and Kim Sun-bin followed with an RBI single to left-center, but could not get any closer.
KT starter Jo Jo-hyun pitched five innings, allowing two runs on three hits to earn the win.
KIA starter Yang Hyun-jong took the loss after giving up five runs (three earned) on six hits by the sixth inning.
In Daegu, the Samsung Lions avenged the previous day’s loss with a 3-1 victory over the Hanwha Eagles.
Samsung opened the scoring in the second inning with an RBI single by Lee Sung-gyu and took a 2-0 lead in the third on an RBI single by Jose Pirela.
In the fourth, Kim Young-woong hit a solo home run to make it 3-0.
Hanwha got one run back in the top of the sixth on an RBI single by Moon Hyun-bin.
Samsung starter David Buchanan pitched eight innings, striking out six and allowing one run on five hits to improve to 12-8.
The first-place LG Twins, who have clinched a direct berth in the Korean Series, extended their winning streak to four games with a 5-3 victory over the visiting Lotte Giants in Busan.
LG scored three runs in the second inning on two Lotte errors and added a run in the fifth on Moon Sung-joo’s RBI double.
In the sixth, Heo Do-hwan’s RBI single plated a run to make it 5-0.
Lotte got one run back in the bottom of the seventh on a bases-loaded single by Jeong Hoon and two more in the ninth on RBI singles by Jeon Jun-woo and Yoo Kang-nam, but it was not enough.
LG starter Lim Chan-kyu pitched 6 1/3 innings, allowing one run on six hits to improve to a career-high 13-3. 토토사이트