The LG Twins swept the first game of a doubleheader, led by Casey Kelly, the “Jamsil Jesus,” who made a spectacular comeback.
The LG Twins won the first game of a doubleheader against the KT Wiz of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League (14th game of the season) 4-0 on Sunday at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul.
First-place LG extended its winning streak to three games and its lead over second-place KT to 7.5 games. 79 wins, 2 ties and 48 losses on the season. For the first time in 29 years, the magic number for winning the regular season is now ‘8’. KT, on the other hand, saw its three-game winning streak come to an end, falling to 73 wins, three draws and 57 losses.
LG’s starting lineup was Hong Chang-ki (right fielder), Shin Min-jae (second baseman), Kim Hyun-soo (designated hitter), Austin Dean (first baseman), Oh Ji-hwan (shortstop), Kim Min-sung (third baseman), Park Dong-won (catcher), Moon Sung-joo (left fielder), and Park Hae-min (center fielder).
KT countered with Choi Seong-ho (right fielder), Hwang Jae-gyun (third baseman), Anthony Alford (left fielder), Park Byung-ho (first baseman), Bae Jeong-dae (center fielder), Jang Sung-woo (catcher), Kim Sang-soo (shortstop), Kim Jun-tae (designated hitter), and Oh Yoon-seok (second baseman). 안전토토사이트
Both teams struggled with scoring chances until the third inning. KT put runners on first and second with back-to-back singles by Choi Jae-dae and Jang Jang-woo, but Kim Sang-soo flied out to right field and Kim Jun-tae flied out to center field, and LG was unable to capitalize on its bullpen day against KT, which had runners on first and second in the first, first and second in the second, and second and second in the third.
LG finally broke the scoreless tie in the fourth inning. With runners on first and third after back-to-back singles by Kim Min-sung and Park Dong-won, Moon Sung-joo capped the inning with an infield single.
In the fifth inning, leadoff hitter Hong Chang-ki calmly drew a walk, stole second and reached third on a wild pitch and Shin Min-jae’s sacrifice bunt. He then scored on Kim Hyun-soo’s grounder to second base. Second baseman Oh Yoon-seok caught the ball and quickly threw home, but Hong Chang-ki touched the base first. It was a wedge point.
However, Austin’s walk ended the rally as Oh fouled out to left field and Kim flied out to center field. The T’s had a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth after Kelly walked and Lee Ho-yeon singled up the middle, but Hwang Jae-gyun fouled out to third and Alford struck out to end the threat.
The LG bats came alive again in the eighth inning. Leadoff hitter Oh Ji-hwan singled and Kim Min-sung laid down a sacrifice bunt to put runners on first and second. Park Dong-won grounded out to the third baseman, but Moon Sung-joo and Park Hae-min hit back-to-back singles to drive in the winning run.
LG starter Kelly earned his 10th win of the season (7-0) with seven innings of five-hit, no walks and two strikeouts. It was his fifth consecutive 10-win season, starting with 14 in 2019 when he entered the KBO in an LG uniform. The 14th most in KBO history. He was followed by Baek Seung-hyun, Kim Jin-sung, and Yoo Young-chan. In the batting lineup, Moon Sung-ju stood out with two hits.
On the other side, KT was handed its first loss of the season by Ha Jun-ho, who gave up two runs in three innings of work as Uhm Sang-baek’s replacement, Joo Ji-won, was pulled after 1 1/3 innings of one-hit ball with three strikeouts and no walks. Choi’s two hits were the only bright spot in the loss.
The teams will play the second game of the doubleheader at the same venue in a short while. LG will start Kim Yun-sik and KT will start Choi Byeol-seong.