How did this happen? LG, once the ‘second best’, leads by 6 games…SSG falls to 5th place

“I’m not really thinking about the batting title, but I don’t know what will happen until the end, so I’ll try my best” (LG’s Hong Chang-ki)

LG Twins slugger Hong Chang-ki, 29, is heating up as the season draws to a close.

On Saturday, LG rode a 15-hit performance, including a blast by Hong, to a 10-4 win at home against the SSG Landers of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul.

Leader LG (72 wins, 2 ties, 47 losses, 0.605), which is seeking its first Korean Series appearance in 21 years since 2002 and its first combined title (regular season and Korean Series) in 29 years since 1994, opened a six-game lead over second-place KT Wiz (67 wins, 3 ties, 54 losses, 0.554), which did not play a game.

LG has 23 games left in the regular season, while KT has 20.

Meanwhile, SSG, which lost its third straight game, passed the KIA Tigers for fourth place and moved into a tie for fifth with the Doosan Bears.

Hong Chang-ki led off the first inning with a single to left field.

He promptly stole second base, his 20th stolen base of the season, and then slid home on back-to-back infield grounders by Shin Min-jae and Kim Hyun-soo to take the lead.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, with the score at 1-0, Shin drove in a valuable run with a double to right field and came home on a single by Kim Hyun-soo to make it 3-0.

Cruising, LG tied the game in the top of the sixth when starter Casey Kelly suddenly faltered, giving up an RBI single to Guillermo Heredia and a double to Choi Joo-hwan, and then gave up another RBI single to Park Sung-hyun in the bottom of the inning to cut the deficit to 3-4.

In the bottom of the sixth, Hong Chang-ki, who came to bat with the bases loaded, hit an RBI double off SSG’s second pitcher, Ko Hyo-joon.

He came home on a single by Shin Min-jae to score his third run of the game.

LG scored three runs in the seventh inning on back-to-back RBI singles by Moon Bo-kyung, Park Dong-won, and Moon Sung-joo to seal the win.

Hong went 3-for-5 on the day, raising his batting average from 0.337 to 0.340 to overtake Son Ah-seop (NC Dinos-0.339) as the league’s top hitter.

He also scored his 99th run of the season, pushing Kim Hye-sung (Kiwoom Heroes – 97) back into the top spot in the league. 카지노사이트

LG’s Park Hae-min stole second base in the fifth inning to become the second player in KBO history to reach 20 stolen bases in 10 consecutive seasons.

The previous leader in this category was Jung Geun-woo with 11 seasons from 2006 to 2016.

Games scheduled to be played in Gwangju, Daejeon, Busan, and Changwon were all canceled due to rain.

Doosan-KIA in Gwangju and KT-Hanwha Eagles in Daejeon have been rescheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 18, while Kiwoom-Lotte Giants in Busan will be played at 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 19.

The Samsung Lions-NC game in Changwon will be rescheduled for a later date.