Ahn Jae-seok walk-off lifts Doosan over KIA
The Doosan Bears beat the KIA Tigers 3-2 at Jamsil on September 23. With the score tied 2-2 and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Ahn Jae-seok lined a slider from KIA closer Lee Eui-lee for a walk-off single, bringing home Kang Seung-ho, who had walked and stolen second. Ahn, who also tied the game with an RBI hit in the fifth, went 3-for-5 with two RBIs for the third walk-off of his career. Doosan, winners of two straight, held fifth place and cut the gap to fourth-place KIA to four games. “I’m thinking about going to Gwangju for the Wild Card game and pulling off the upset,” Ahn said.
Source: Sports Kyunghyang
Cheon Jae-hwan homer snaps NC’s 8-game skid
The NC Dinos beat league leader KT Wiz 10-3 in Suwon on September 23, ending an eight-game losing streak. Trailing 0-2 in the third, Cheon Jae-hwan hit a go-ahead three-run homer, and Kim Hwi-jip added a solo shot in the seventh. Do Tae-hoon’s two-run double in the eighth sealed it as NC pounded out 15 hits. Starter Riley Thompson earned his eighth win (1 loss) with a quality start of six innings and three runs. NC (60-2-68) stayed in sixth, while KT (79-4-48), whose three-game win streak ended, will have to wait for its 80th win.
Source: News1
Reyes go-ahead homer extends Lotte’s streak to 5
The Lotte Giants beat the Hanwha Eagles 9-5 in Daejeon on September 23 for their fifth straight win. Down 1-4, Lotte closed in with an RBI triple by Na Seung-yeop and an RBI single by Victor Reyes in the fifth, then tied it 4-4 on Jeon Min-jae’s sacrifice fly in the sixth. With two outs and a runner on second in the seventh, Reyes hit a go-ahead two-run homer off Hanwha’s Jo Dong-wook. It was his 14th of the season and completed a home run against every team in the league. Reliever Park Jeong-min threw 1⅔ scoreless innings for his eighth win. Eighth-place Lotte (58-2-71) moved within half a game of seventh-place SSG, while Hanwha fell to a nine-game losing streak.
Source: News1
Former development player Kim Sang-jun rescues Samsung
Samsung Lions infielder Kim Sang-jun started at shortstop, batting ninth, against NC in Daegu on September 22 and went 2-for-3 with a walk in an 8-5 win. With the score tied 4-4 and the bases loaded with two outs in the fifth, he drove in two runs to break the tie, while also filling in for regular shortstop Lee Jae-hyeon, who is away at the Asian Games. Undrafted out of high school, Kim had quit baseball, but while doing military service he watched Kim Young-woong homer in his first career at-bat on TV and picked up the bat again. He joined Samsung as a development player and reached the first team this year. To players who went undrafted this year, he said: “Flowers don’t only bloom in spring.”
Source: Ilgan Sports
Four outfielders vie for September Scene-Stealer award
Four outfielders — LG’s Park Hae-min, KT’s Choi Won-jun, Hanwha’s Choi In-ho and SSG’s Guillermo Heredia — have been named finalists for September’s ‘Monthly CGV Scene-Stealer Award,’ created by the KBO and CGV. Park chased down a ball to left-center against Doosan on September 1, and Choi Won-jun made a leaping catch at the fence against Samsung on September 9. Choi In-ho robbed Kim Jae-hwan of a would-be homer with a leaping grab against SSG on September 10, and Heredia threw out a runner from second at home against NC on September 17. The winner will be decided entirely by fan voting on CGV’s website and app from 3 p.m. on September 23 until midnight on September 26.
Source: Star News