SSG Landers extended its winning streak at home to six games. SSG won 7-2 at home against the Hanwha Eagles on Saturday at SSG Landers Field in Incheon.
SSG improved to 71 wins, three draws and 63 points with its sixth straight win and moved into fourth place, dropping the NC Dinos (70 wins, two draws and 63 points), who did not play on the day, to fifth. Hanwha suffered its second straight loss and dropped to 56 wins, 6 draws and 75 losses, remaining in ninth place.
SSG took the early lead in the game. Choi Jeong-jeong opened the scoring with a home run.
In his first at-bat with the bases loaded in the bottom of the first inning, Lee turned on a fastball thrown by Hanwha starter Lee Tae-yang and smashed a solo home run (his 27th of the season) over the left field fence.
In the bottom of the second, Kim Sung-hyun singled to score another run, and with runners on second and third, Choo Shin-soo singled to bring home both runners to make it 4-0.
In the bottom of the inning, Choi’s bat came alive once again, as he led off with a five-pitch at-bat from Lee Tae-yang and launched a solo home run over the fence (his 28th of the season).
Choi became the first player this season to hit a home run against his former club (6th of the season) and the first to hit a home run in consecutive at-bats (23rd of the season, 1169th of his KBO career, and 26th of his career). He also moved within three of Hanwha’s Noh Si-hwan (31) for the home run lead.
SSG added another run in the inning. Guillermo Heredia and Han Yoo-seom hit back-to-back doubles to extend the lead to 6-0.
Hanwha scored twice in the top of the fourth, but SSG ended the comeback bid in the bottom of the sixth when Oh Tae-gon hit a solo shot (his fifth of the season). SSG starter Moon Seung-won earned the win with a quality start (6 innings, 3 earned runs or less), allowing 2 runs on 7 hits with 2 walks and 3 strikeouts, and was supported by a batting lineup that hit 3 home runs.
He earned his fifth win of the season (7-1). Tae-Yang Lee took the loss, allowing six runs (five earned) in 2.1 innings and suffered his third loss of the season (3-3).
The sixth-ranked KIA Tigers pulled off a thrilling come-from-behind 3-2 victory over the LG Twins at Jamsil Stadium. KIA moved to 67 wins, 2 draws, and 67 losses, moving back into the top five. They narrowed the gap with NC to 3.5 games. They are also 3.5 games behind the seventh-place Lotte Giants (64 wins and 71 losses).
Trailing 0-2 in the top of the eighth inning, Kia rallied for a run on Kim Do-young’s RBI single, then Kim Sun-bin hit a two-run double with runners on first and third to tie the game.
With the win, LG clinched first place in the regular season with 84 wins, two ties and 52 losses. After the game, LG celebrated its first regular season title in 29 years with a 메이저사이트 ceremony in front of its home fans. The game at Jamsil Stadium was sold out (42nd of the season, 6th for LG).
The eighth-ranked Samsung Lions defeated the second-ranked KT Wiz 6-2 on the road at Katie Wiz Park in Suwon, South Korea. It was Samsung’s second straight win to move to 60 wins (1 draw, 78 losses) on the season. KT is now 76 wins, three draws, and 62 losses.