Hong Chang-ki, who showed great success as if he came out with a magic bat at every critical moment, saved LG. League leader LG recorded two consecutive wins and continued its path toward winning the regular season.

In the ‘2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League’ game against SSG held at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on the 16th, LG won 10-4 with a lively attack from the batting line, including Hong Chang-ki’s winning hit in the 6th inning when they were down 4-5. LG (72 wins, 47 losses, 2 draws), which recorded 2 consecutive wins following the match against Hanwha in Daejeon the previous day (15th), took a step closer to winning the regular season by widening the game gap with 2nd place KT to 6 games. On the other hand, SSG (62 wins, 57 losses, 2 draws) lost 3 times in a row, lost 4th place to KIA, and fell to a tie for 5th place with Doosan.

LG’s starting pitcher Casey Kelly, who had pitched almost perfectly until the 5th inning, collapsed in the 6th inning, allowing 4 runs while allowing 6 hits and 2 walks in 5⅓ innings with 6 strikeouts. However, the bullpen pitchers who followed narrowly prevented the crisis and maintained the team lead. Kim Jin-seong, Yoo Young-chan, and Baek Seung-hyun pitched next, and

in the batting lineup, Hong Chang-ki, who was the leadoff and has shown a very strong performance against SSG this season, led the team with a great performance with 3 hits, 3 RBIs, and 3 runs, including the game-winning hit in the 6th inning. The top batting lineup was active, with No. 2 Shin Min-jae recording 2 hits and 2 RBIs, No. 3 Kim Hyun-soo recording 2 RBIs, and No. 4 Austin recording 2 hits, as well as Moon Bo-kyung with 3 hits and 1 RBI, Park Dong-won with 2 hits and 1 RBI, and Park Hae. All of the team’s hitters gave their best effort, with Min recording one hit and two runs, and Moon Seong-ju recording one hit and one RBI. LG hit 15 long and short hits on this day.

On the other hand, SSG’s starting pitcher Won-Seok Oh was unable to get over the 6th inning and performed poorly, allowing 5 runs, 9 hits, 1 walk, 1 strikeout, in 5⅔ innings. Ko Hyo-jun, who came next, gave up 2 runs in ⅓ innings, and Choi Min-jun also gave up 2 runs in ⅓ innings, failing to exert any effort and collapsing under LG’s batting. In the batting lineup, Choo Shin-soo had 1 hit and 1 walk, Choi Ji-hoon had 2 hits, Choi Joo-hwan had 1 hit and 2 RBI, and Park Seong-han had 2 hits and 1 RBI, but he was outplayed by LG’s firepower.

# The significance of LG, who came to Jamsil after

a 4-3, 7th inning strong cold win over Hanwha in Daejeon the day before, and Oh Won-seok’s ‘Goliath and David’ who was weak against LG, won without much bullpen consumption. I put it. In the regular season, with 5.5 games ahead of 2nd place KT and 6 games ahead of 3rd place NC, LG calculated that the championship could be confirmed by winning at least 14 of the remaining 24 games, and the starting pitchers took the mound after a 4-day rest. was planning.

On this day, LG’s starting pitcher, Casey Kelly, had pitched unevenly until the middle of the season, but his recent good performance has raised expectations for the future. Following his win against Lotte on August 24th with 3 hits and no runs in 6 innings, he pitched against Doosan on August 31st with 7 hits, 4 strikeouts, and 1 run in 6 innings, and in his previous appearance against KT on the 6th, he pitched 7 innings with 2 hits, 8 strikeouts, and no runs. His condition was on the rise.

He has recorded four quality starts (more than 3 earned runs in 6 innings as a starter) four times in the last 5 games, and his ERA in the last 5 games has been outstanding at 1.80. In 3 games against SSG this season, his performance was not very good, with 1 win, 1 loss, and an ERA of 4.76, but in 16 games against SSG, he pitched well with an ERA of 3.33, and his recent upward trend was trustworthy.

There wasn’t that much difference in LG’s starting lineup that day. Hong Chang-ki (right fielder) and Shin Min-jae (second baseman) served as table setters, and Kim Hyun-soo (designated hitter), Austin (first baseman), and Oh Ji-hwan (shortstop) formed the main batting order. Next, the lower batting lineup was drawn in the following order: Moon Bo-kyung (third baseman), Park Dong-won (catcher), Moon Seong-ju (left fielder), and Park Hae-min (center fielder).

On the other hand, SSG, which was ahead 2-0 in the game against Doosan in Jamsil on the 14th and suffered a walk-off loss after Seo Jin-yong gave up 3 runs in the 9th inning, took a day’s rest on the 15th to regain its team spirit. However, as they were being chased by KIA and Doosan and their performance had not been good since August, there was a sense of crisis throughout the team.

The starting pitcher on this day was left-hander Oh Won-seok, who has recorded 6 wins, 8 losses, and an ERA of 5.48 this season and has not shown the growth expected. Oh Won-seok has performed poorly in the last five games with an ERA of 9.74, and in his two appearances against LG this season, he was completely weak with two losses and an ERA of 12.60. In his 12 career games against LG, he was weak with 3 wins, 5 losses, and an average ERA of 8.29.

Regarding the selection of Oh Won-seok as the starter, SSG coach Kim Won-hyung said, “Moon Seung-won (who was able to be used that day) was also weak against LG,” and added, “But we took into consideration that LG has many left-handed hitters.” The batting order is Choo Shin-soo (designated hitter) – Choi Ji-hoon (center fielder) – Choi Jeong (third baseman) – Heredia (left fielder) – Choi Joo-hwan (first baseman) – Park Seong-han (shortstop) – Han Yu-seom (right fielder) – Kim Seong-hyeon (second baseman) – Kim Min-sik ( Catcher) followed in that order.

# Kelly’s fight for health, Oh Won-seok’s fight… Hong Chang-ki broke the trend and

Kelly continued the recent good trend. The maximum speed was around 150 km/h, which was not that special compared to usual, but SSG hitters were unable to do anything about the three breaking balls, including the slider, curve, and change-up. The pitch selection was good and the angle of each pitch was good.

Kelly showed strength by allowing only two hits until the fifth inning. Conversely, she struck out six. Most of SSG’s batters hit Kelly’s breaking ball, but there were no proper hits. In the first inning, Kelly grounded out Choo Shin-soo, struck out Choi Ji-hoon, and Choi Jeong hit a fly ball to left field. In the second inning, with two outs, Park Seong-han was allowed a double that landed next to the left fielder, but when Hanyu Island was at bat, catcher Park Dong-won caught Park Seong-han by checking second base. After video review, it was ruled out.

Meanwhile, LG scored first in the first inning. Hong Chang-gi, the leader, was also at the forefront. Hong Chang-gi got on base against SSG starter Oh Won-seok with a clean hit to left-center and then stole second base. Then, when Shin Min-jae hit a ground ball to shortstop, he got to third base with a quick start, and when Kim Hyun-soo hit a ground ball to second base, he stepped on the home run and took the lead. One point went up without a timely hit.

In the third inning, Kelly struck out Han Yu-seom with a fly ball to left field, Seong-hyeon Kim with a pitcher’s ground ball, and Min-sik Kim with a missed swing. The crisis was also overcome in the 4th inning. After allowing Choi Ji-hoon to hit a double to center field with one out, Kelly caught Choi Jeong with a ground ball to third base and took a breather. After that, he gave Heredia a ball that hit his body and struck out Choi Joo-hwan, who was driven to first and second base but persistently resisted, with a slider again, and finished the inning without giving up any runs.

However, LG also failed to create a viable path against Oh Won-seok. LG batters did not have a single strikeout from Oh Won-seok until the fourth inning. Made a lot of balls in play. However, these batted balls fell short of being long hits. With one out in the second inning, LG’s Bo-Kyung Moon hit a hit to right-center, but the game was shut out and the game was out. Considering that Park Dong-won supported the game with a left-handed hit, it was an even more disappointing performance.

Following a three-way strike in the third inning, Oh Won-seok overcame the crisis in the fourth and maintained a one-point lead. But LG had Hong Chang-gi. LG stole second base with a foot after Park Hae-min hit a left-field hit with two outs in the fifth inning. It was the moment when the second player in KBO League history to achieve 20 steals for 10 consecutive years was born. Here, Hong Chang-gi took a 2-0 lead with a light hit to the right.스포츠토토

From here, LG’s batting lineup began to feel lighter. Shin Min-jae hit a single to left, putting runners on first and second base with two outs. Then, Kim Hyun-soo hit a timely hit in the middle of the game to earn one more point. Although the batted ball speeds were not fast, LG crossed the infield well and led to a hit in the 5th inning. Cleaning time began with LG leading 3-0.

# SSG hit a storm in the 6th inning, but LG had Hong Chang-gi.

However, SSG, which had a long way to go, did not sit still. In the 6th inning, when they were down 0-3, they showed off their concentration and scored 4 points at once to turn the game around. SSG’s batting line’s scoring ability stood out.

After one out, Choo Shin-soo cleared the way. He caught Kelly’s curveball and hit a hit that landed in front of left field. Jihoon Choi then hit a right-handed hit to make it to first and second base. Kelly’s pitch, which was almost perfect until the 5th inning, began to fail to find the strike zone, and Choi Jeong, who noticed this, picked the ball well until the end and drew a walk to load the bases.

With bases loaded and one out, Heredia caught Kelly’s first pitch pitch high and hit a timely hit in front of right field to score one run. Then, Choi Joo-hwan, who struck out twice that day, came forward to solve the problem. Choi Joo-hwan, who had a particularly strong history against LG since his Doosan days, was caught in an unfavorable count, but hit a timely hit with two RBIs, hitting a pitched pitcher on the fifth pitch and bringing in two runners, tying the score at 3-3.

LG started to hold on by hastily preparing Kim Jin-seong as the second pitcher, but SSG took a 4-3 lead with Park Seong-han aiming for a forkball on the first pitch and hitting a timely hit to right. SSG, who had scored only 2 runs in 18 innings in the previous two games, turned the game around by scoring 4 runs in the 6th inning.

As the rain is expected to gradually intensify, LG also immediately launched a counterattack. With one out in the sixth inning, trailing 3-4, Moon Bo-kyung hit a double to right field, and Park Dong-won walked to first and second base. Seong-Joo Moon stayed on a ground ball to first base, but it did not lead to a double play, leaving the team on 1st and 3rd with 2 outs, and Hae-Min Park walked against the changed pitcher Hyo-Jun Ko, leaving the bases loaded with 2 outs. Now at the plate was Hong Chang-ki, who had the best batting skills in the team.

In the game against Ko Hyo-jun, Hong Chang-ki caught a slider on the third pitch and hit a timely hit with 2 RBIs in front of the center fielder, turning the game around again. He once again showed off his improved hitting skills this season, recording 3 hits and 3 RBIs in his first four at-bats.

LG didn’t stop there. While the throw was heading home, Hong Chang-gi entered second base, and with 2 outs and 2nd and 3rd bases, Shin Min-jae hit a timely hit to left with 2 RBIs. It wasn’t a strong hit, but it went slightly over shortstop Park Seong-han’s jump and went into the outfield to make it 7-4. They made up for the 4 points they lost in the top of the 6th inning and took a 3-point lead again into the final half of the game.

# LG Pilseungjoo mobilized all members, SSG collapsed helplessly due to the loss of momentum

LG was not without a final crisis. Yoo Young-chan, who entered the game in the 7th inning with a 7-4 lead, allowed straight walks to Choi Hang and Choo Shin-soo, putting them on first and second base with no outs. He threw two balls to the next batter, Choi Ji-hoon, and recorded 10 consecutive balls. But first, he caught Choi Ji-hoon with a fly ball to center field, got one out, and took a breather. Then LG put Baek Seung-hyun on the mound and mobilized all of their team for victory.

Baek Seung-hyun allowed a walk to Heredia after two outs, but struck out Joo-hwan Choi with a missed swing with the bases loaded and two outs, saving the team from the final crisis of the game. SSG, who missed this opportunity, no longer had the strength to attack.

On the other hand, LG took a breather and added 3 more points in the 7th inning to take a 7-4 lead. Austin, the leader, hit a double to right-center field. LG, which judged that there was a high possibility of victory if one more point was scored, instructed Oh Ji-hwan to make a sacrifice bunt, and Oh Ji-hwan did this, putting one out and third base on base.

Here, Moon Bo-kyung hit a timely double to right field to add one run, and then Park Dong-won hit a timely hit to left-center to take the lead to 9-4. In the ensuing game, with one out and runners on first base, Moon Seong-ju hit a timely triple to left-center, scoring double-digit runs. Center fielder Choi Ji-hoon attempted a diving catch but failed, and batter Moon Seong-joo almost came home.

SSG had two hits in the 8th inning, but failed to score. Seo Sang-jun did well to block LG’s attack in the 8th inning, but the 6-point score gap seemed too large. LG prepared for a double header on the 17th by leaving out many of the starting players at the end of the game. SSG was unable to turn things around until the end and fell into a swamp of three consecutive losses.

After the game, LG coach Yeom Kyung-yeop said, “Kelly had a difficult game as he walked Choi Jeong, but he played his role as a starter. There was a big crisis in the 7th inning, but Baek Seung-hyun overcame the crisis well and laid the foundation for victory.” “I think Baek Seung-hyun has developed into a player who has grown to the next level through the process of overcoming the crisis,” he said, looking back on the situation in the 7th inning.

He then praised the table setter, saying, “In attack, Hong Chang-gi led the overall batting lineup with a comeback hit and a good performance in defense, and in a situation where additional points were needed, Shin Min-jae hit two important RBIs and was able to set the tone for the overall game.” “It was a see-saw game until the middle of the game, but the players focused and achieved a comeback victory, and I would like to praise their concentration once again. Even in the bad weather, many fans came and gave passionate support, so the players were able to play a good game. Thank you.”

The two teams will play a double header starting at 2 p.m. on the 17th. These are two very important games for LG to secure first place and for SSG to advance to the postseason. LG will have Lee Jeong-yong and Lim Chan-gyu as starters, while SSG will have Kim Gwang-hyun and Kirk McCarty at the forefront of the counterattack.