The NC Dinos defeated the SSG Landers in extra innings.
NC won 2-0 at home against SSG in the Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League 2024 on Thursday at NC Park in Changwon, South Korea.
With the win, NC remained in sixth place with 40 wins, two draws and 41 losses, while SSG remained in fifth place with 41 wins, one draw and 42 losses.
NC starter Kyle Hart pitched seven innings of three-hit ball with seven strikeouts and one walk, but was left without a win. Min-Hyeok Shin improved to 6-0 on the season with 0.2 innings of scoreless relief, striking out one and walking none. At the plate, Matt Davidson went 2-for-5 with one home run, two RBIs and one run scored.
SSG starter Kim Kwang-hyun also pitched well with seven innings of two-hit ball, seven strikeouts and no walks, but was left without a win. Lee took his first loss of the season after giving up two runs (one earned) on one hit (one home run) in 0.1 innings.
The game was a classic pitching battle between the two teams.
Hart was the SSG killer, not allowing a single SSG batter to reach base until the fourth inning. In the top of the second inning, he wiped out SSG’s center field with just seven pitches.
Kim Kwang-hyun also showed off his sturdiness by throwing three-hit shutout innings in the second through fourth innings, except for the first. In the bottom of the first, he gave up a single to Kwon Hee-dong with one out, but struck out both Park Gun-woo and Davidson to continue his strong start.
SSG got on the board first in the fifth inning. In the top of the fifth, leadoff hitter Han Yoo-seom drew a walk after a seven-pitch at-bat. However, they were unable to follow up and failed to score again.
SSG had runners on first and second in the top of the sixth inning when Lee Ji-young singled and Choi Ji-hoon bunted. With runners on first and second, Park Ji-hwan laid down a sacrifice bunt to put runners on second and third. With runners on second and third, SSG failed to capitalize on the opportunity as Choo Shin-soo flied out to shortstop and Choi Jeong-jeong grounded out to third.
NC’s batting lineup also struggled. After the first inning, NC was 19가이드 unable to get a hit off Kim Kwang-hyun until the sixth inning.
NC loaded the bases for the first time in a long time in the bottom of the seventh inning when Davidson singled up the middle, but the next batter, Kim Sung-wook, was stranded at third base on a grounder to short.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, leadoff hitter Park Siwon drew a seven-pitch walk to load the bases. However, they were unable to capitalize on the hit.
SSG had their chance in the ninth inning. With two outs in the top of the ninth, Han Yoo-seom doubled to left field, and Go Myung-joon drew a walk to put runners on first and second. With runners on first and second, Ha Jae-hoon was thrown out at the plate by Lee Yong-chan’s fastball, ending the chance.
The two teams were unable to tie the game in the ninth inning, sending it to extra innings.
SSG had a chance in the 10th inning. With one out in the top of the 10th, Lee Ji-young singled and was replaced by Jung Jun-jae as the pinch-hitter. Choi Ji-hoon then hit an infield single, but Jung Jun-jae was thrown out at the plate for the second out, leaving the bases loaded. SSG was unable to capitalize on the opportunity as Park Ji-hwan struck out with the bases loaded.
NC woke up when it mattered most. In the bottom of the 12th inning, leadoff hitter Park Gun-woo hit a grounder to second base, but second baseman Kim Sung-hyun made a throwing error and the runner reached first base. With the bases loaded, Davidson took three pitches and hit a two-run shot over the left-field fence to end the game.
The game ended in extra innings, with Davidson’s walk-off home run giving NC a 2-0 victory.