The LG Twins avoided a sweep behind a strong start from starter Im Chan-kyu and strong performances from the top of the lineup.
LG won the 12th game of the season against Samsung 7-4 on Saturday at Lions Park in Daegu.
There was a twist early on. Samsung starter Albert Suarez injured his left calf while fielding in the first inning and left the mound after facing only three batters. A medical examination revealed a 12-centimeter tear on the gastrocnemius side of his left calf, and he is expected to take about four weeks to recover. Samsung first baseman Ryu Ji-hyuk was also replaced in the first inning due to a left thigh strain while fielding.
However, LG was unable to take an early lead against Samsung’s bullpen, which came out of nowhere.
In the top of the second, Moon Bo-kyung led off with a triple off the first baseman’s mitt, followed by a grounder by Park Dong-won. However, right in the bottom of the inning, he gave up a solo shot (his ninth of the season) to Lee Jae-hyun to tie the game at 1-1.
The tense 1-1 balance was broken in the top of the fifth inning.
Shin Min-jae led off with an infield single that bounced off the first baseman’s mitt and was stolen, and Hong Chang-ki followed with a single to left to put runners on first and third.
Moon Sung-joo’s grounder to first base seemed to end the threat as the runner from third was tagged out at home. But two batters later, Austin walked to load the bases, and Oh Ji-hwan lined a two-run double off Samsung left-hander Lee Jae-ik.
LG made it 5-1 in the sixth when Park Dong-won led off with a walk, pinch-hitter Choi Seung-min stole second, and Hong Chang-ki and Kim Hyun-soo followed with RBI singles. LG sealed the game in the eighth inning when Moon Sung-joo hit his second grand slam of the season with two outs and three runners on base.
LG, which pounded out 13 hits, was led by the No. 1,2,3 batting order of Hong Chang-ki, Moon Sung-joo, and Kim Hyun-soo, who combined for seven hits, four RBIs, and four runs scored.
LG starter Lim Chan-kyu pitched five innings of one-run ball, giving up five hits and three walks with seven strikeouts to snap his team’s two-game losing streak and improve to 8-2 on the season. It was Samsung’s first start in 1174 days since May 19, 2020, and extended its winning streak to four straight in Daegu and six straight on the road.
Samsung struggled with Suarez’s injury, which forced them to use a bullpen day.
The recently active batting lineup was silent in crucial chances. In the 1-1 third inning, Kim Hyun-jun singled and Kim Sung-yoon walked to load the bases with no outs, but Kang Min-ho hit a straight line drive and Kim Tae-hoon struck out to end the inning. 토토사이트
The recently hot Samsung bats didn’t give up until the end.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, they loaded the bases with one out against Jung Woo-young after Kim Ho-jae’s double and back-to-back walks, then scored two runs on Lee Jae-hyun’s single and Lee Sung-gyu’s sacrifice fly. In the ninth inning, they cut the deficit to three runs with a double by Koo Ja-rook against LG closer Ko Woo-seok and an RBI single by Kim Ho-jae two batters later.
Lee Jae-hyun went 4-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs, but his performance was overshadowed by the loss. Koo Ja-rook continued his hot hitting with a 5-for-3 performance.