The Kia Tigers defeated SSG Landers closer Seo Jin-yong to extend their winning streak to eight games for the first time in two years and one month and jump to fourth place.
KIA came from behind to beat SSG 8-6 in the visiting SSG Landers Field in Incheon on Aug. 3 in the Baseball World Series 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League.
The win streak, which began on Aug. 24 against the KT WIZ in Suwon, extended to eight games.
It is the first time in two years and one month since July 1-August 13, 2021, that KIA has won eight straight games. Back then, the league was suspended on July 12 due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, followed by the Tokyo Olympics break, and KIA won eight straight games (one draw) over 44 days.
This time around, they went 16 days without a draw, extending their winning streak to eight games and moving up to fourth place for the first time in 117 days since May 9.
The teams in first through fourth place on Day 2 all lost on the day, leaving fifth-place KIA as the only team with a smile on its face.
The difference in winning percentage between KIA and the fifth-place NC Dinos is 0.0005 (KIA 0.5283, NC 0.5278).
After falling as low as ninth place in early June, KIA has been on a terrifying run of late, leading to a shakeup at the top of the standings.
Trailing 5-6 in the top of the eighth inning, KIA changed the game with a single to right-center field by Kim Sun-bin.
SSG made a gamble by bringing in closer Seo Jin-yong early.
However, Seo Jin-yong was unable to stop the hot Kia bats.
After Hwang Dae-in singled to left to put runners on first and second, KIA tied the game at 6-6 with a Kim Tae-gun single up the middle.
Ko Jong-wook, who came in as a pinch hitter, then hit a two-run single to left field that beat Seo Jin-yong.
In the ninth inning, Kim Do-young hit a wedge solo shot over the right field fence off Lee Roon.
Earlier in the day, KIA took the lead in the first inning on Choi Hyung-woo’s RBI double to center field that put runners on second and third.
After SSG took the lead in the bottom of the first inning with a leadoff home run by Choo Shin-soo, KIA responded with a two-run shot to left by Hwang Dae-in in the top of the second.
SSG responded in the bottom of the second with a three-run homer to left by Cho Hyung-woo to make it 5-4.
After KIA tied the game with two outs in the top of the fifth inning on Park Chan-ho’s double and Kim Do-young’s RBI single to right, SSG regained the lead in the bottom of the fifth on Choi Jeong’s RBI single to left.
After a sluggish start, KIA batted four straight batters in the eighth inning to turn the game around, and Kim Do-young hit a solo shot in the ninth to celebrate the win and the upset.
The loss plunged third-place SSG, which had tried to turn things around by demoting hitting coach Lee Jin-young and pitching coach Cho Woong-chun to the second team and recalling hitting coach Park Jung-kwon and pitching coach Chae Byung-yong to the first team.
SSG fell into a four-game losing streak.
Choi Jeong-jeong added a run to give him 1,354 career points, one shy of the KBO record held by Doosan Bears manager Lee Seung-yeop (1,355), but he was unable to smile as his team lost.
Leaders LG Twins and second-place KT Wiz were also swept by the bottom teams.
LG lost 3-5 to the last-place (10th) Hanwha Eagles at home in Jamsil.
Hanwha scored five runs in the top of the second inning after falling behind 0-1, capitalizing on four hits, a walk, and an error.
After a leadoff single to right by Kim Tae-yeon and a triple by Choi In-ho, his first in the KBO, tied the game at 1-1, Jang Jin-hyuk’s grounder was misplayed by first baseman Austin Dean to make it 2-1.
Lee Do-yoon followed with an RBI single and Noh Si-hwan with a two-run double to put the game out of reach.
Hanwha’s Moon Dong-ju struggled in his final regular-season start of the year, allowing three runs on 11 hits (one home run) in 4 1/3 innings with two walks and two strikeouts.
However, the Hanwha bullpen of Kim Bum-soo (1⅔ innings), Joo Hyun-sang (2 innings), and Park Sang-won (1 inning) pitched the remaining 4⅔ scoreless innings to preserve the win.
KT fell to the ninth-ranked Kiwoom Heroes 0-7 in Gocheok.
Despite losing batting centerpiece Lee Jung-hoo and ace Ahn Woo-jin to injury, Kiwoom extended its winning streak to four games.
Kiwoom took the lead in the bottom of the third inning on Ronnie Dawson’s RBI double to left field with the bases loaded, and added another run in the fourth on Lim Byung-wook’s RBI double with runners on first and third.
Kiwoom starter Ariel Hurtado picked up his ninth win of the season (8-0) after tossing 6⅔ innings of no-hit ball.
Hurado threw 99 pitches with two outs in the seventh inning, giving up just one hit and no walks before handing the mound over to Yoon Seok-won.
The Samsung Lions defeated the NC Dinos 6-1 in Daegu.
Samsung foreign pitcher David Buchanan, who was on short rest due to gallbladder symptoms, pitched 6⅔ innings, allowing one run (unearned) on five hits, and added a win (9-6), his first in 36 days since July 29 against Kiwoom.
Samsung scored six runs in the top of the fourth inning as Kim Dong-jin, Kim Ho-jae, Ryu Ji-hyuk, Kim Hyun-joon, and Kim Sung-yoon hit consecutive singles and Oh Jae-il hit a three-run double with the bases loaded.
NC lost helplessly and lost the fourth spot to KIA.
The Doosan Bears snapped a three-game losing streak with a 2-0 victory over the Lotte Giants in Sajik, Busan.
With runners on first and third with nobody out in the top of the third inning, Doosan first baseman Lee Yoo-chan extended the lead and Lotte starter Charlie Barnes grounded out to first base.
Lee bounced between first and second, and third baseman Kang Seung-ho, who was trying to take advantage of a gap in the Lotte defense, raced home. Barnes, covering first base, threw home, but Kang Seung-ho reached home plate first.
Doosan tacked on another run in the top of the eighth inning on Yang’s RBI single up the middle to put runners on first and second with two outs.
Doosan starter Brandon Waddell pitched six innings of five-hit ball to earn his seventh win of the season.
Doosan and Lotte were unable to play on days one and two due to rain.
The two teams will face off at Sajik Stadium on Monday, April 4, as the KBO has decided to make up games canceled on Saturday or Sunday on Monday. This is the first Monday game in the KBO this year. 토토