The LG Twins bat one of only two players in KBO history, Dae-do, in the No. 9 spot and a clutch hitter with the league’s second-best on-base percentage (0.353) in the No. 1 spot. Top-ranked LG proved why they are the favorite to win the championship, as they completely destroyed SSG Landers with unexpected firepower.메이저놀이터
LG defeated SSG 10-4 in their regular-season home game of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League on Saturday at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Songpa-gu, Seoul.
With the victory, LG, which has won two straight games, consolidated its top spot with 72 wins, two draws and 47 losses, extending its lead over second-place KT Wiz (67 wins, three draws and 54 losses) to six games. Meanwhile, SSG, which has lost three straight, dropped to fifth place with 62 wins, two draws and 57 losses (0.521 winning percentage), trailing only the KIA Tigers (60 wins, two draws and 55 losses – 0.522 winning percentage), who had no games on the day due to a rainout.
The difference in firepower was significant. LG starter Kelly struggled, giving up four runs on six hits with two walks and six strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings, but the offense pounded out 15 hits long and short to take control. SSG starter Oh Won-seok was torched by a reliever’s arson, allowing five runs on nine hits with one walk and one strikeout in 5⅔ innings to drop to 9-6 on the season.
Park Hae-min, batting ninth, went 1-for-3 with a home run, a walk and two runs scored, while also stealing his 20th base of the season to become the second player in KBO history to steal 20 bases in 10 consecutive seasons after Jung Geun-woo (retired) stole 20 bases in 11 seasons (2006-2016). Hong Chang-ki was 3-for-5 with a home run, three RBIs and three runs scored, while Shin Min-jae was 2-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs as the table-setters. Austin went 4-for-2, Moon Bo-kyung went 4-for-3 with one RBI and two runs scored, and Park Dong-won was 3-for-2 with one RBI, one walk and one run scored.
September 16 SSG Landers-LG Twins Starting Lineup
SSG Landers starting pitcher Oh Won-seok.
SSG’s batting order was Choo Shin-soo (designated hitter), Choi Ji-hoon (center fielder), Choi Jeong (third baseman), Guillermo Heredia (left fielder), Choi Ju-hwan (first baseman), Park Sung-sung (shortstop), Han Yu-seom (right fielder), Kim Sung-hyun (second baseman), and Kim Min-sik (catcher). The starter was left-hander Oh Won-seok.
LG’s batting order was Hong Chang-ki (right fielder), Shin Min-jae (second baseman), Kim Hyun-soo (designated hitter), Austin Dean (first baseman), Oh Ji-hwan (shortstop), Moon Bo-kyung (third baseman), Park Dong-won (catcher), Moon Sung-joo (left fielder), and Park Hae-min (center fielder). The starter was right-hander Casey Kelly.
LG and SSG, who had a tight game schedule, also expressed their frustration as all four stadiums except Jamsil Baseball Stadium were canceled due to nationwide rain that day. Both teams have a doubleheader the next day (Nov. 17), so if this game is canceled, they will play a nine-game series through Nov. 24. LG is missing Adam Plutko and Choi Won-tae from its starting rotation, while SSG’s lower lineup under Kim Kwang-hyun continues to falter, so every day off is valuable.
According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, rain is also forecast for Seoul from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., the start time of the game, so both teams will need strong performances from their starting pitchers to settle the game quickly. This season, Kelly is 8-7 with a 4.08 ERA in 26 games, while SSG is 1-1 with a 4.76 ERA in three games. SSG starter Oh Won-seok is much weaker, going 6-8 with a 5.48 ERA in 23 games this season and 2-2 with a 12.60 ERA against LG.
“If (Oh) Won-seok doesn’t go out, (Moon) Seung-won has to go out, but when I looked at their LG records, they were almost the same, so I thought Won-seok would be the better of the two because LG has a lot of lefties,” SSG coach Kim Won-hyung explained in a pregame interview.
A forced pitcher’s duel created a rain parade… ‘Dado’ Park Hae-min, who broke a tense one-run tie, stole 20 bases for the second time in 10 seasons in the KBO.
LG Casey Kelly roars after throwing a no-hitter in the top of the fifth inning against Jamsil SSG on the 16th.
LG’s Park Hae-min steals second base in the bottom of the fifth inning against Jamsil SSG on the 16th.
LG’s Park Hae-min stole second base from second to first in the fifth inning of the Jamsil SSG game on the 16th. It was his 20th stolen base of the season.
The two starting pitchers, who have a poor record against each other, had an unexpected pitching battle, with only one run scored by both teams through the fourth inning. There was some good pitching, but it was made possible by a parade of hits from both teams’ bats.
In the first inning, Choo Shin-soo’s grounder was fielded by Moon Bo-kyung, who was between first and second base on a defensive shift. Energized, Kelly struck out Choi Ji-hoon on a wild pitch and got Choi Jeong on a fly ball to left field for a triple play to start the game. It was LG who struck first. In the first inning, Hong Chang-ki led off with a single to left, stole second, moved to third on Shin Min-jae’s grounder, and came home on Kim Hyun-soo’s grounder.
In the bottom of the second inning, Kelly gave up a double to left field to Park Sung-ho, putting runners in scoring position. However, catcher Park Dong-won threw to second base to end the inning after realizing that Park had extended the lead.
SSG second baseman Kim Sung-hyun was the lone bright spot. He was responsible for all three outs in the third inning. He drew applause when he made a jumping catch of Shin Min-jae’s fly ball over the fence. In the fourth inning, he made a split-second catch to get the bases loaded. After failing to catch Oh Ji-hwan’s hit at first base, Kim Sung-hyun pushed back the bouncing ball with his glove to catch Austin, who led off the inning with a toss to second base.
LG also exchanged hits with Oh Ji-hwan and Hong Chang-ki. In the fifth inning, Park Sung-hwan hit a well-hit line drive that Hong Chang-ki, the right fielder, raced from a long distance to make a sliding catch. Kim Sung-hyun’s grounder was not caught by Oh Ji-hwan at first, but he immediately fired a strong throw to first base for the out.
It was the KBO’s representative, Dae-do Park Hae-min, who shook up the tight one-run game. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Park hit Oh Won-seok’s first-pitch slider for a single to left field. He then stole second base off of Hong Chang-ki for his 20th stolen base of the season. Hong came home on the hit, followed by Shin Min-jae’s single to left and Kim Hyun-soo’s RBI single to right-center, giving LG a 3-0 lead.
LG explodes for 9 runs in the 5th-7th innings, ‘SSG’s late comeback’ quelled with firepower
SSG’s Choi Joo-hwan ties the game at 3-3 with a single up the middle in the top of the sixth inning against LG Electronics in Jamsil on Saturday.
LG’s Hong Chang-ki (left) celebrates with first base coach Lee Jong-beom after hitting a two-run double to center field in the bottom of the sixth inning against SSG in Jamsil on Saturday to make it 5-3.
LG’s Shin Min-jae (left) high-fives first base coach Lee Jong-beom after hitting a two-run double to left-center field with runners on second and third in the bottom of the sixth inning against SSG in Jamsil on Saturday.
From the start of the second half of the game, both teams’ bats were on fire. In the top of the sixth inning with SSG trailing 0-3, Choo Shin-soo and Choi Ji-hoon singled and Choi Jung drew a walk to load the bases. Heredia followed with an RBI single and Choi tied the game at 3-3 with an RBI double, ending Kelly’s streak of five consecutive quality starts. Reliever Jin-seong Kim gave up another run, bringing Kelly’s final line to 5 1/3 innings, six hits, two walks, six strikeouts and four runs. Kelly threw a total of 86 pitches (30 fastballs, 20 cutters, 20 curves, 10 two-seam fastballs, and six changeups), touching 150 mph.
LG responded to SSG’s late rally with firepower. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Moon Bo-kyung led off with a double down the right field line. Park Dong-won singled and Moon Sung-joo grounded out to put runners on second and third, forcing SSG to bring in closer Go Hyo-joon. He walked Park Hae-min and SSG’s hopes of winning the game fell apart in front of the two tablesetters, Hong Chang-gi and Shin Min-jae.
Prior to this game, Hong’s .353 batting average with runners in scoring position was second in the league. The momentum quickly shifted in the home team’s favor when Hong Chang-ki drove a slider from Ko Hyo-joon into the gap for an RBI double to center field, followed by Shin Min-jae’s RBI double to left-center field off the glove of Park Sung-ho, giving LG a 7-4 lead. Oh threw a total of 92 pitches (50 fastballs, 23 sliders, 13 changeups, and six curves), topping out at 148 mph. His final line was 5⅔ innings, nine hits, one walk, one strikeout, and five runs.
For SSG, the offense in the top of the seventh inning was disappointing. Against reliever Yoo Young-chan, Choi Hang and Choo Shin-soo led off with straight balls. However, Choi Ji-hoon flied out to center field, Choi Jung struck out on three pitches, and Heredia walked, but the rally was short-lived as Choi Joo-hwan struck out swinging on a slider from Baek Seung-hyun.
LG, on the other hand, continued to show off its firepower. With SSG switching batteries with catcher Cho Hyung-woo and pitcher Choi Min-joon, leadoff hitter Austin led off with a double to right-center. Oh advanced him to third with a sacrifice bunt, and Moon brought him home with a double down the right field line. Park Dong-won followed with a single to left-center, and Moon Sung-joo tripled to left-center field to give LG a 10-4 lead.
SSG had runners on first and third with one out in the top of the ninth, but could not score a run to secure the 10-4 victory for LG.