6 wins and 9 losses between the teams.
The LG Twins, who are leading the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) in wins, have been unusually vulnerable to the NC Dinos this season, giving them a cause for concern in fall baseball.
NC broke a 4-4 tie in the top of the ninth inning against visiting LG in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Jamsil Stadium on Nov. 22 to win 5-4.
With the win, third-place NC closed to within one game of second-place KT WIZ.
In particular, NC has improved its head-to-head record to 9-6, including a recent four-game winning streak against first-place LG.
With 18 games remaining in the season, having played 126 of the 144 games, the only teams that LG is behind this season are NC and the KIA Tigers (7-8).
NC opened the scoring in the top of the first inning when Son As-seop singled up the middle and Park Gun-woo followed with a single to center.
LG responded with an RBI double by Hong Chang-ki after a pitching change, followed by sacrifice flies by Ak Song-gu and Kim Hyun-soo to make it 2-1.
NC regained the lead in the top of the second when Seo Ho-cheol hit an RBI double with the bases loaded to make it 3-2, but LG responded in the bottom of the inning with an RBI double by Kim Min-sung to make it 4-3.
However, NC tied the game at 4-4 in the top of the fifth with a two-run double by Park Gun-woo.
In the top of the ninth, with two outs, Seo Ho-cheol singled to right against LG closer Ko Woo-seok.
On the replay, LG first baseman Austin Dean had a chance to catch the runner at home, but he was thrown out at the plate.
NC ace Koo Chang-mo, who was left off the Hangzhou Asian Games squad, took the mound for the first time in 112 days and pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings to check his form.
■ Doosan in fourth place, 3 games behind fifth-place KIA…Fall baseball is ‘hot’
In Daegu, the Doosan Bears defeated the Samsung Lions 3-1.
Doosan took the lead in the second inning on a sacrifice fly by Kang Seung-ho with runners on first and third.
In the third inning, with runners on second and third, Yang hit a two-run double to right-center field to make it 3-0.
Samsung got one run back in the bottom of the seventh on Kim Ji-chan’s double and Ryu Ji-hyuk’s infield single.
With its second straight win, Doosan took a step closer to the fall baseball season by staying in fourth place, three games ahead of fifth-place KIA.
KIA players celebrate after winning 2-1 to end a seven-game losing streak. (Gwangju=)
Kia snaps 7-game losing streak with Pannoni, returns to 5th place after overtaking SSG
In Gwangju, the KIA Tigers rode a strong start from Thomas Pannoni to a 2-1 victory over the KT Wiz.
With the victory, KIA (61 W, 59 L, 2 T, 0.5083 winning percentage) snapped a seven-game losing streak and moved up one spot to fifth place, 0.0002 ahead of SSG Landers (63 W, 61 L, 2 T, 0.5081 winning percentage), who lost on the day.
KIA took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning when Lee Woo-sung singled, moved to third on a subsequent grounder and wild pitch, and came home on Byun Woo-hyuk’s single up the middle.
In the third, after a double steal with runners on first and second, Choi Hyung-woo hit a sacrifice fly to center field to make it 2-0.
Trailing, KT scored a run in the top of the sixth inning on an RBI single by Kim Sang-soo, but could not get any closer.
KIA starter Panoni earned the win, allowing one run on four hits while striking out six over 5⅔ innings.
KT ace Wes Benjamin took the loss after giving up two runs on six hits in the fifth inning.
■ Lotte’s Yoon Dong-hee went 3-for-5 with two doubles.
In Incheon, the Lotte Giants, led by Yoon Dong-hee, defeated the SSG Landers 5-2.
Lotte took the lead in the first inning when Yoon doubled and scored on a subsequent grounder, but SSG responded with a leadoff homer by Choo Shin-soo after a pitching change to make it 1-1.
Lotte took the lead in the top of the fourth with a solo home run by Yoo Kang-nam, but SSG answered with a solo shot to left field in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game at 2-2.
However, Lotte took the lead again in the bottom of the seventh inning on an infield single by Yoon Dong-hee to make it 3-2, and then scored two runs in the eighth inning to tie the game.
Yoon, who was a last-minute selection to the Asian Games team, finished 3-for-5 with two doubles.
■ Last-place Kiwoom wins third straight…closes to within 1.5 games of ninth-place Samseong
In Daejeon, the last-place Kiwoom Heroes defeated the Hanwha Eagles 11-6.
With their third straight win, Kiwoom is now 1.5 games behind ninth-place Samsung, who lost on the day.안전놀이터
Despite the loss, Hanwha’s home run leader Noh Si-hwan hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning to record his 31st of the season.
He remained five behind second-place Choi, who hit his 26th on the day.
However, it is unclear if Noh will be able to maintain his home run lead as he will join the Asian Games squad from the 23rd.
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