KT Beats KIA With a 9th-Inning Homer
League leaders KT Wiz beat the KIA Tigers 3-2 at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field on the 30th. With the game scoreless through five innings, KIA struck first in the 6th when Kim Do-young doubled and Harold Castro followed with a two-run homer. KT answered in the 7th as Sam Hilliard hit a game-tying two-run shot off Kwak Do-gyu, his 40th home run of the season. In the 9th, Kwon Dong-jin launched the go-ahead solo homer off Jeon Sang-hyeon, and closer Park Young-hyun shut the door for the save. KIA starter Kim Tae-hyung threw five scoreless innings but got no decision. KT moved to 82-49-4 and kept a three-game lead over second-place Samsung.
Source: Xportsnews
Samsung Hits KBO-First 5,600th Team Homer
Second-place Samsung Lions beat the Hanwha Eagles 6-2 at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on the 30th for their fourth straight win. Choi Hyung-woo homered in the game, making Samsung the first club in KBO history to reach 5,600 team home runs. Starter Ariel Jurado earned the win, while Hanwha starter Owen White took the loss. The night was not all celebration, however, as captain Koo Ja-wook left in the 1st inning with left hamstring pain while running the bases. Choi himself said he could not fully enjoy the milestone because he was worried about Koo. Samsung remains three games behind leader KT with eight games left.
Source: Ilgan Sports
Doosan Clinches Postseason With a Walk-Off
The Doosan Bears beat the NC Dinos 6-5 at Jamsil on the 30th to clinch a postseason berth. Doosan led on Yang Eui-ji’s sacrifice fly in the 3rd, but NC took a 3-1 lead in the 5th on RBI hits by Oh Tae-yang, Cheon Jae-hwan and Kim Hwi-jip. Severino’s solo homer in the 6th cut the gap, NC added a run on Kim Ju-won’s hit in the 8th, and Cho Su-haeng’s RBI single made it 4-3. Kim Hyung-jun’s RBI hit pushed it to 5-3 in the 9th, but with the bases loaded in the bottom half Kim Min-seok tied it with a two-run hit and Kang Seung-ho won it with an infield single. Doosan (69-63-5, 5th) is now three games behind fourth-place KIA, while NC is locked into 6th and out of the postseason.
Source: Star News
SSG Rallies From 0-3 for a Walk-Off Win
The SSG Landers rallied to beat the LG Twins 4-3 at home in Incheon on the 30th. LG scored twice in the 6th, including an RBI hit by Oh Ji-hwan, and Koo Bon-hyuk’s RBI single made it 3-0 in the 7th. In the bottom of the 9th, however, SSG loaded the bases against LG closer Son Ju-young on hits by Jeon Eui-san, Ko Myeong-jun and Choi Ji-hoon. Cho Hyung-woo’s two-run single and a wild pitch tied the game, and Jung Jun-jae ended it with a walk-off hit. SSG starter Kim Geon-woo struck out nine and allowed two runs in five innings, while LG starter Park Si-won threw five scoreless innings with seven strikeouts. Son took the loss after allowing four runs in two-thirds of an inning, and LG fell to 75-58-1 with a four-game losing streak.
Source: Ilgan Sports
Lotte Extends Win Streak vs Kiwoom to 11
The Lotte Giants beat the Kiwoom Heroes 8-6 at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan on the 30th for their second straight win. Lotte has won every meeting with Kiwoom since April 30, stretching its head-to-head winning streak to 11 games. Son Seong-bin opened the scoring with an RBI infield hit in the 2nd, and Lotte built its lead in the 3rd and 4th with RBI hits from Victor Reyes and Ko Seung-min, among others. Kiwoom’s Matt Davidson hit a 140-meter two-run homer in the 5th, his 25th of the season, and Kiwoom scored four in the 9th, but it was not enough. Reyes and Ko each went 3-for-5 with three RBIs. Lotte starter Elvin Rodriguez left early after 3.1 scoreless innings due to physical discomfort. Lotte is now 61-72-2.
Source: Maeil Business Newspaper
Samsung’s Koo Ja-wook Exits With Hamstring Pain
Samsung Lions captain Koo Ja-wook left early with an injury in the home game against Hanwha in Daegu on the 30th. Starting in left field and batting third, Koo singled off Hanwha starter Owen White in his first at-bat in the 1st inning and raced to second, but grabbed at his left hamstring right after sliding. He was helped off the field by the training staff and replaced by pinch-runner Park Seung-gyu. The club said he would receive ice treatment and then a hospital examination. Koo had been on a tear, batting .457 (16-for-35) over his last 10 games. For Samsung, chasing leader KT by three games, it is a major late-season concern.
Source: Money Today
Hilliard Hits No. 40, Puts Team First
KT Wiz import Sam Hilliard hit his 40th home run of the season against KIA on the 30th and said the team matters more than the home run title. Down 0-2 in the 7th, Hilliard launched a game-tying two-run homer off a KIA left-handed reliever, setting up KT’s 3-2 comeback win and extending the team’s winning streak to three games. Asked about the home run race, Hilliard praised Kim Do-young and Austin as tremendous players, then said he does not focus much on the title and that KT finishing first is his top priority. Looking back on the swing, he said he was happy to produce important runs in a close game and that he was looking for pitches in the strike zone.
Source: Sports Seoul
Doosan Manager Maps Out Wild Card Plan
Doosan Bears manager Kim Won-hyung laid out his wild card plans after clinching a postseason berth. With the walk-off win over NC on the 30th, Doosan improved to 69-63-5 and secured a spot regardless of its remaining results. Kim said the team will focus on winning the wild card round first rather than looking ahead to the semi-playoffs, adding that the Game 1 and Game 2 starters have been set while every other pitcher will be on standby. Asian Games gold medal ace Kwak Been is the likely Game 1 starter, with a scenario of Benjamin and Choi Min-seok sharing Game 2. Doosan will also chase fourth-place KIA, three games ahead, over its final seven games.
Source: Star News
NC Makes Riley Re-Signing a Top Priority
The NC Dinos’ postseason hopes ended with the walk-off loss to Doosan on the 30th, but import pitcher Riley Thompson (30) remains a bright spot. NC is locked into sixth at 62-72-2. Riley is 8-1 with a 2.69 ERA this season. His only loss came at home against Samsung on August 23; without that game, he could have finished the year unbeaten. On the strength of that consistency, NC’s front office is expected to make re-signing Riley its top priority in negotiations. Attention now turns to whether fans will see him on a KBO mound again next year.
Source: Star News