What to do about the Hanwha Eagles in the KBO…
‘Young slugger’ Noh Si-hwan is on fire, but the team’s autumn baseball hopes are slipping away.
Despite Noh’s three home runs and five RBIs on the day he became the first Hanwha player to win the monthly MVP award in five years and three months since Jung Woo-ram in May 2018, the team has lost four straight games.
Noh won the monthly MVP award after batting .298 with six home runs (tied for first), 14 RBIs (tied for fifth) and a .649 slugging percentage (tied for first) in the month of July.
However, the team fell into a four-game losing streak that left them tied at the bottom of the standings with the Kiwoom Heroes and Samsung Lions, who were also in a mid-table race.
Eighth-placed Hanwha (38-51, 0.427) is 3.5 games behind seventh-placed Lotte Giants (44-50, 0.468) and 1.5 games behind ninth-placed Kiwoom (42-38, 0.420) and 10th-placed Samsung (40-1-56, 0.417).
Hanwha came from behind to lose 6-12 against visiting KT Wiz of the Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League on 9 September at Katie Wiz Park in Suwon.
Noh Si-hwan led off the game with a solo shot to left-centre field after two outs in the top of the first inning.
The next batter, Chae Eun-sung, followed with a shot over the centre field fence, completing Hanwha’s first back-to-back home runs this season.
Noh Si-hwan hit a three-run blast to left-centre with runners on first and second in the third inning to make it 2-1, and then came up to bat in the eighth and hit a solo arch over the centre wall.
All three of his home runs were over 130 metres in distance.
Noh hit three home runs in a game for the first time in his career, and his 26 homers on the season increased his lead in the category to five over Choi Jung (21).
However, even with Noh’s big game, Hanwha lost.
In the second half, top-ranked KT battled back with 13 hits despite being hit by four home runs from Noh and Chae Eun-sung.
Trailing 1-5 in the bottom of the fourth, Hwang Jae-gyun singled and Park Byung-ho doubled to left to put runners on second and third, but when Jang Sung-woo struck out swinging, the ball slipped behind him and KT scored a run on Anthony Alford’s grounder to third.
With runners on first and third, Oh Yun-seok stole second and Alford stole third for a double steal to cut the lead to 4-5.
In the fifth inning, Moon Sang-chul’s RBI double with the bases loaded, Jang Jang-woo’s sacrifice fly, Ahn Chi-young’s triple to centre field, Kim Sang-soo’s sacrifice fly and Kim Min-hyuk’s RBI single to centre field widened the gap.
KT scored six runs on seven hits in the fifth inning.
KT, which won 14 of its last 17 games, moved past the NC Dinos into third place.
■ Kiwoom ‘snaps nine-game losing streak’ by beating Lotte, tying club record
The Kiwoom Heroes snapped a nine-game losing streak with a 10-8 victory over the Lotte Giants, who piled on the defensive errors.
It was a huge relief for Kiwoom, who would have set a franchise record for the longest losing streak if they had lost.
Lotte committed back-to-back errors by shortstop Niko Goodrum in the second inning, first baseman Go Seung-min in the third and right fielder Yoon Dong-hee in the fourth.
Kiwoom took advantage, scoring one run in the second and five in the third to take control of the game.
There was a moment when Kiwoom coach Hong Won-ki’s face hardened.
With a comfortable 10-3 lead in the top of the ninth, Kiwoom gave up five runs on four walks to cut the deficit to 8-10.
However, they were able to capitalise on their opponent’s errors to secure the win.
Kim Hye-sung, who has been the centrepiece of Kiwoom’s batting order since Lee Jung-hoo left with an injury, led the way with a 3-for-4 performance with two RBIs.
SSG snaps two-game losing streak with ‘active home run leader’ Choi Jeong-jeong
The SSG Landers snapped a two-game losing streak with Choi Jeong-jeong, the ‘No. 1 home run hitter in active service’.
SSG defeated NC 2-1 at home in Incheon.
Choi came to bat in the bottom of the fourth inning with the score tied 1-1 and lifted a 124-kilometre-per-hour changeup from NC starter Choi Sung-young for a massive 135-metre solo shot to left-centre field.
Choi, who hit his 20th home run of the season on 27 July against the Samsung Lions, added a home run in 11 games after suffering a home run drought.
Choi now has 450 career home runs.
Choi became the second player in KBO history to reach 450 career home runs, moving within 17 of Doosan Bears manager Lee Seung-yeop’s record of 467.
NC, which was riding a five-game winning streak, dropped one spot to fourth with the loss.
■ Samsung snaps five-game losing streak against Doosan…removes 9th-placed Kiwoom and Seungchae
The Samsung Lions pulled off a thrilling come-from-behind 6-4 win over the Doosan Bears in Jamsil.
Jose Pirela and Koo Ja-rook hit solo home runs for Samsung and Jose Rojas and Kim Jae-hwan for Doosan to tie the game at 2-2 going into the top of the sixth inning.
Doosan broke the tie in the bottom of the sixth inning when Yang Seok-hwan hit a single up the middle with runners on first and second.
However, Samsung tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the eighth when Kim Dong-jin doubled and Kim Sung-yoon singled to left field.
With momentum on their side, Samsung had runners on first and third in the top of the ninth when Ryu Ji-hyuk led off with a walk, stole second, and Pirela’s shot deflected off Doosan pitcher Hong Gun-hee for an infield single.
Oh Jae-il grounded out to shortstop, but a fastball from Doosan catcher Jang Seung-hyun put runners on first and second with Doosan second baseman Lee Yoo-chan throwing home a big bounce from Kang Kang-ul, allowing Ryu Ji-hyuk and Pirela to cross the plate.
Samsung scored three runs in the ninth as Kim Dong-jin singled and Kim Hyun-joon followed with a single up the middle.
Doosan had runners on second and third with no outs in the bottom of the ninth, but pinch-hitter Kim Min-hyuk’s sacrifice fly to centre field was enough to keep them within one run.
Samsung snapped a five-game losing streak against Doosan.
LG bounces back from rain-shortened no-hitter with 8-0 win over KIA
The ‘frontrunners’ LG Twins defeated the KIA Tigers 6-2 on their visit to Gwangju.
Kim Min-sung, who returned to the first team about a month after shaking off a thigh injury, took advantage of KIA starter Lee Yi-ri with runners on first and third in the top of the second inning and hit a two-run double to left field.토토사이트
In the fifth and seventh innings, back-to-back errors by the Kia infield led to additional runs.
KIA cut the deficit to 2-4 with a two-run homer by Choi Hyung-woo in the seventh, but gave up a run in the ninth due to an error.
On the day, KIA committed four errors by first baseman Choi Won-jun, second baseman Kim Kyu-sung, shortstop Kim Do-young and second baseman Park Chan-ho.
LG starter Lee Jung-yong pitched five innings of two-hit ball to earn his first career win.
LG bounced back from an 8-0 lead the day before, when a rainout was declared.