The LG Twins pulled off a thrilling extra-inning victory over the SSG Landers in a battle for first place.
LG Twins won 8-4 in 12 extra innings against SSG in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on April 18. With the win, LG improved its season record to 63-2-37 and extended its lead over SSG (55-1-45), which has lost four straight games, to eight games.
The tense 0-0 balance was broken in the fourth inning as both teams’ starters pitched well. SSG, who had been held in check by Choi Won-tae, got their first hit of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning when leadoff hitter Choo Shin-soo singled to right field.
Ji-Hoon Choi then grounded out to Shin-Soo Choo, but Choi walked to load the bases with one out, and Choi took a 146 km/h fastball from Won-Tae Choi for a three-run shot over the right field wall. It was Choi’s 17th home run of the season. The home run gave SSG a 3-0 lead.
SSG added one more run in the bottom of the sixth inning. Choo Shin-soo singled, Choi Ji-hoon bunted, and Choi Jeong sacrificed to put runners on second and third. Choi Ju-hwan then walked on an automatic double play, and Kang Jin-sung hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Choo Shin-soo. The score was 4-0.
LG rallied in the top of the seventh after McCarty was relieved. Against Moon Seung-won, who took the mound after McCarty, Jung Joo-hyun and pinch-hitter Oh Ji-hwan walked to put runners on first and second with no outs, and Park Hae-min singled to right to bring in Jung Joo-hyun.
The pitcher was replaced by Ko Hyo-joon and Hong Chang-ki flied out to left field, and with runners on first and second, Park Dong-won singled to score pinch-hitter Kim Min-sung, giving LG a 2-4, 2-run lead over SSG. Park advanced to second base while Park Hae-min was caught in a rundown.
Kim Hyun-soo followed with a walk to put runners on first and second, and Austin hit a slider from reliever Noh Kyung-eun to right field. The runner at second base was not going to make it home, but right fielder Han Yoo-seom threw the ball away, allowing Park Dong-won and Kim Hyun-soo to score, tying the game at 4-4.
The score remained the same until the last game of the regular season, which eventually went into overtime. In the top of the 10th, LG had runners on first and third with back-to-back singles from Moon Bo-kyung and Moon Sung-joo after Choi Min-joon walked, but they couldn’t capitalize as Jung Ju-hyun was caught at home trying to steal a double, leaving runners on second and third.
In the bottom of the 10th inning, SSG also failed to score against Yoo Young-chan, and in the top of the 11th inning, Choi Min-joon tied it up again for LG, tying the game at 4-4 going into the 11th inning. Baek Seung-hyun took the mound for LG, and one out later, Kim Sung-hyun reached on an error by the third baseman. After a grounder by Han Yoo-seom, pinch-hitter Kim Kang-min walked on an automatic double play to put runners on first and second, but Lee Jae-won grounded out to end the threat for SSG.
The game eventually went to the 12th inning, where Choi Min-jun got two outs on a Kim Hyun-soo infield single and an Austin shortstop grounder, but gave up a solo 먹튀검증 home run to Moon Bo-kyung on a seven-pitch pitch. Moon Sung-joo then singled against a shaky Choi Min-joon, and Jung Joo-hyun followed with a home run of his own to give LG a 7-4 lead over SSG.
SSG switched pitchers to Lee I-roon, but Lee gave up a solo shot to Kim Min-sung to make the score 8-4. SSG was unable to score a run in the bottom of the 12th inning against Kim Jin-sung, giving LG a dramatic victory.
LG starter Choi Won-tae pitched seven innings of three-hit ball (one home run) with three walks and four strikeouts, while Ham Deok-joo, Go Woo-seok, Yoo Young-chan, Baek Seung-hyun, and Kim Jin-sung each pitched a scoreless inning to complete the win. On the other hand, SSG starter McCarty pitched six scoreless innings, but it was not enough.