The LG Twins are finally within striking distance of their first regular season title in 29 years.
LG won a 5-4 victory over visiting KT Wiz in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Katie Wiz Park in Suwon, South Korea, on April 2, thanks to an ironclad effort from the bullpen and the cohesiveness of the batting lineup. With the win over second-place KT, first-place LG finally reduced its “magic number” for the regular season title to one, as the third-place NC Dinos also lost on the same day.
With nine games remaining, LG needs just one more win to clinch the regular season title and advance directly to the Korean Series. The last time LG finished first in the regular season was in 1994, when they won the Korean Series.
Starting rookie Kang Hyo-jong, who was called up from the second team, LG was focused on scoring all of its runs in the second inning. With runners on first and second in the top of the third, Park Hae-min led off with a single to left and Kim Hyun-soo followed with a double to right to make it 3-0.
KT answered with a run in the fourth when Anthony Alford hit a two-run home run to left field to cut the deficit to 2-3. However, LG scored a run in the top of the fifth off KT’s second pitcher, Ha Jun-ho, after three walks and two wild pitches to take a 4-2 lead. In the seventh inning, with runners on first and second, Oh Ji-hwan doubled down the right field line to score a run and make the score 5-2.
In the bottom of the eighth, KT scored a run on Kim Sang-soo’s double with runners on first and second, and Hwang Jae-gyun drew a bases-loaded walk to cut the deficit to 4-5. However, with the bases loaded, Alford struck out to end the threat.토토사이트
LG’s starter Kang Hyo-jong was pulled after giving up two runs in 3⅔ innings, but Lee Woo-chan (⅓), Park Myung-geun (1), Choi Dong-hwan (1), Baek Seung-hyun (1), Kim Dae-hyun (0), and Kim Jin-sung (2) followed to keep KT at bay until the end.
In Daejeon, the Hanwha Eagles hit four home runs to sweep third-place NC 10-0, while in Jamsil, the Doosan Bears defeated the Kiwoom Heroes 7-2. In Busan, where a doubleheader was held, the Samsung Lions defeated Lotte 9-8 in game one before taking game two 8-6. With two more wins in one day, Samsung moved up one spot to eighth, ahead of Hanwha.