An abrupt one-hour and 44-minute stoppage of play didn’t stop LG.
Leader LG held off a late charge from second-place KT to accelerate its push for the top spot in the regular season.
LG held on to Kim Hyun-soo’s game-winning hit in the sixth inning to secure a thrilling 5-4, one-run victory over visiting KT at KT Wiz Park in Suwon on Friday.
It was a crucial three-game series that could prove to be a watershed moment in the race for first place in the regular season.
The previous day, LG had a 5.5-game lead over KT, but if KT swept the three-game series, the gap would be reduced to 2.5 games. However, LG maintained their focus until the very end and took the first game of the three-game series, extending their lead to 6.5 games.
The game was suspended for 1 hour and 44 minutes due to a sudden downpour during the match. The game was suspended in the bottom of the third inning with LG leading 4-2, but the wait was so long that both starting pitchers (LG’s Choi Won-tae and KT’s Cuevas) were only able to throw three innings each.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, LG tied the game at 4-4 with a solo home run by KT’s Choi Jae-dae and an RBI single by Hwang Jae-gyun. However, in the top of the sixth inning, Hong Chang-ki led off with a double to left-center, and after a sacrifice bunt, Kim Hyun-soo lined an RBI single to right to regain the lead at 5-4.
In the bottom of the eighth, reliever Park Myung-geun gave up a double to Jang Jang-woo and a walk to Kim Min-hyuk to put runners on first and second. At this point, LG showed a strong will to win by calling up closer Go Woo-seok.
Go induced a hard grounder against Lee Ho-yeon, which LG shortstop Oh Ji-hwan turned into a double play. After catching the ball, Oh lightly touched the second base line with his right toe before throwing to first base. Go Woo-seok pitched the bottom of the ninth to preserve the win. KT, which has lost four straight games, is now one game behind third-place SSG.
NC moved back into fourth place with a 2-1 win over Kiwoom in Changwon behind a seven-inning no-hitter from ace Pedi and a game-winning two-run homer from Park Gun-woo.
Park crushed a changeup from Kiwoom starter McKinney outside the zone for a two-run homer with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning. Kiwoom pulled to within one run in the top of the ninth on Lim Byung-wook’s RBI single to left-center, but couldn’t put the game away. NC starter Peddie improved to 17-6 with seven innings of two-hit, 11-strikeout ball. He lowered his ERA to 2.28 and moved into sole possession of first place in both wins and ERA.
In Daejeon, Han Yoo-seom went 4-for-4 with four RBIs as SSG defeated Hanwha 11-6 to snap a four-game losing streak. Han Yoo-seom, batting seventh and playing right field, led the offense by reaching base in all five at-bats, starting with a double to center in the second, followed by a home run in the fourth, a walk in the sixth, and singles to right in the seventh and eighth.
In Ulsan, Lotte, led by Yoo Kang-nam’s three-run homer, cruised to a 10-3 win over Samsung. Lotte took the lead in the bottom of the first inning on a sacrifice fly by Nico Gudrum before Yoo Kang-nam blasted a three-run homer over the left-center field fence. Lotte trailed 3-5 in the top of the fifth, but scored two runs in the bottom of the inning on RBI singles by Yoon Dong-hee and Jeong Hoon.메이저놀이터
The Kia-Dusan game, which was scheduled to take place the same day at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul, was canceled due to localized heavy rain just before the game.