It’s a blowout. With a stabilized starting lineup, the SSG Landers have rattled off five straight wins to move from fifth to fourth place in the standings.

SSG defeated the NC Dinos 4-3 in their regular-season home game of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at SSG Landers Field in Michuhol-gu, Incheon on Friday.

With the victory, SSG, which has won all five games in October, moved into fourth place with 70 wins, three draws and 63 losses, half a game behind third-place Doosan Bears. On the other hand, NC, who looked to be in the top three alongside LG Twins and KT Wiz, dropped to fourth place with 70 wins, three draws and 63 losses.

Recently, SSG has begun to show signs of stability with its starters going the distance, starting with Kim Kwang-hyun’s six-inning quality start against Doosan in Incheon on September 27. Even including the performance of Roenis Elias (3 innings, 4 earned runs), who was removed from the game on September 3 due to a back injury, SSG’s starters had a 3.51 ERA in the last six games. In doing so, SSG, which was in fifth place and 4.5 games out of third place before the October 1 game, dropped four games in just five days, putting pressure on the top of the standings.

Today was no different. Starter Oh Won-seok got off to a quality start with six innings of five-hit ball, two walks, one strikeout, and three earned runs to help SSG hold onto its lead and improve to 8-0 on the season. At the plate, Ha Jae-hoon went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs, while Kim Sung-hyun and Kim Chan-hyung combined for four of the team’s five hits with one apiece.

It was NC that struck first. In the top of the first inning, Jason Martin singled up the middle with two outs. They added a run in the second inning, but with runners on second and third, Kim Sung-hyun singled up the middle and Kim Min-sik hit a sacrifice fly to center field to tie the game at 2-2.

Choi Joo-hwan’s persistent hitting finally turned the tide. In the third inning, after Oh Tae-gon walked and stole second, NC starter Lee Jae-hak worked a favorable two-strike count. However, a wild pitch advanced Oh to third, and Choi Joo-hwan walked five batters before hitting a 10-pitch grounder to shortstop that allowed Oh to score. SSG takes a 3-2 lead.

In the fourth inning, SSG took advantage of another wild pitch to load the bases, and Kim Chan-hyung singled to right to score another run. In the fifth inning, NC scored one run on a sacrifice fly by Park Gun-woo. In the eighth inning, back-to-back singles by Park Gun-woo and Martin against Noh Kyung-eun put runners on first and second with no outs, but Oh Young-soo struck out swinging. In the ninth inning, Seo Ho-cheol singled to put runners on first and second, but Kim Sung-wook struck out on a wild pitch to reliever Seo Jin-yong.

Sixth-ranked KIA has been hit with another injury setback. Against Suwon KT on April 4, KIA’s starting shortstop Park Chan-ho was hit in the left forearm by Lee Sun-woo’s 138-kilometer-per-hour two-seam fastball in the fifth inning and had to be replaced. He was diagnosed with a comminuted ulnar fracture before the game against Suwon KT on May 5 and was given a 12-week rehabilitation.

The absence of the leadoff man and shortstop left a big void. The leadoff spot was filled by Kim Do-young, a table-setter, and the shortstop by Kim Kyu-sung, an infield utility, but the defense was missing.

In the bottom of the third inning, with KIA leading 2-0, Shin Bon-ki led off with a double down the right field line. Ahn Chi-young advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt and the next batter, Kim Sang-soo, drew a walk. Hwang Jae-gyun followed with a single to left. However, Anthony Alford allowed a slow grounder from Kim Gyu-sung to go right through his crotch, tying the game at 2-2. Park Byung-ho followed with an RBI single to left and Jang Sung-woo added a sacrifice fly after a wild pitch to make it 4-2.

Yang Hyun-jong held on for six innings, allowing five runs (three earned) on five hits (one home run) with two walks and five strikeouts, but the bats didn’t provide enough support. KT held on for a 5-3 victory after starting pitcher Joo Hyun Kim pitched five innings of three-hit ball (one home run) with three strikeouts and two walks, and the team played beehive baseball with a whopping five pitchers.

With their second straight loss, KIA fell to 66 wins and two ties, four games behind fourth-place SSG and NC, and took a step back from fall baseball.

At Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, South Korea, where the Hanwha Eagles and Samsung Lions faced off, Oh Seung-hwan (41-Samsung) took another step closer to the record books.
With foreign ace David Buchanan holding Hanwha to one run on eight hits with one walk and six strikeouts in five innings, Samsung scored three runs in the fourth inning, including a solo shot by Kim Young-woong, to take the game to the ninth.

With a 3-1 lead in the top of the ninth, Oh Seung-hwan gave up a single to Chae Eun-sung, but retired the next three batters, including two strikeouts, to earn his 29th save of the season and 399th of his KBO career. If Oh Seung-hwan adds just one more save with Samsung’s six games 메이저사이트 remaining, the KBO will become the first league to have a 400-save pitcher, joining the Major League Baseball (ML) and Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).

Meanwhile, the LG Twins, who clinched first place in the regular season, won their third straight game with a 5-3 victory over the Lotte Giants despite being without key players Kim Hyun-soo, Oh Seung-hwan, and Park Hae-min.

Starter Lim Chan-kyu pitched 6 1/3 innings of six-hit ball, striking out four and walking one to earn his 13th win of the season, while Kim Jin-sung worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh inning to earn his 100th career save.