9-1 lead in the 7th inning, but the 8th inning closer
When Austin's three-run blast in the top of the seventh made it an eight-run inning and 9-1, it looked like it was going to be easy. But it wasn't that easy. The opposition rallied, and the pitchers were the first to go. In the end, they had to bring in a closer to pitch the eighth inning to hold on for a three-run victory.
The defending champion LG Twins won a hard-fought 9-6 victory over the NC Dinos. LG scored eight runs in the top of the seventh inning to take a 9-1 lead in the second game of a doubleheader against the NC Dinos at Changwon NC Park on the 30th, tied 1-1, but the Dinos were able to hold off a late rally to win the game with Yoo Young-chan pitching the bottom of the eighth.
With the win, LG moved past Samsung into sole possession of second place. They are 1.5 games behind first-place KIA.
The game turned into a pitcher's duel, with NC starter Lee Jae-hak allowing one run on five hits with four walks and three strikeouts over six innings and LG starter Son Ju-young allowing one run on five hits with two walks and one strikeout over five innings. Jung Woo-young came on in the bottom of the sixth and allowed one hit and no runs.
The game was tied 1-1 through six innings, but things changed in the seventh inning.
In the top of the seventh inning, LG scored eight runs in order. After Austin led off with a single, NC immediately brought up Kim Jae-yeol. Austin failed to steal second, but Park Dong-won singled, Moon Bo-kyung doubled to right-center, Kim Bum-seok singled to center, and Koo Bon-hyuk singled to short center to make it 2-1. Hae-min Park was hit by a pitch, and Hong Chang-ki followed with an RBI double to make it 5-1. Shin Bin-jae singled to load the bases again, and Kim Hyun-soo hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score another run, and LG extended its lead to 9-1 when Austin hit a three-run shot to left-center field.
LG was expected to win comfortably, but NC scored one run in the bottom of the seventh inning after a hit and a walk to load the bases with Park Gun-woo's single up the middle, and two batters later, Kim Hwijip's double to left center scored another run to cut the deficit to 3-9, 6 runs.
In the bottom of the eighth, the LG mound collapsed on itself. Lee Woo-chan gave up two walks and was replaced by Kim Dae-hyun, who gave up another walk to load the bases and gave up a run on a wild pitch. With the bases loaded and one out, LG brought in Yoo Young-chan for the final out. Park Gun-woo hit a sacrifice fly to right field and Davidson followed with a double to right-center to make it 6-9, but Kim Hwijip struck out to end the threat.
Yoo closed out the game in the bottom of the ninth, striking out Son Asub and Park Siwon to end the game.
The five-out save was his 17th of the season.
Hong Chang-ki went 2-for-4 with a double and three RBIs, Austin went 2-for-5 with a double and three RBIs, and Shin Min-jae had two hits and a run scored. Park Hae-min also enjoyed a long-awaited return to form with two hits, one RBI and two runs scored.
"Son Joo-young was a little shaky in the first inning, but he stabilized and did a good job as a starter, and Jung Woo-young is doing his job little by little and giving 먹튀검증업체 순위 the team a lot of strength," LG manager Yeom Kyung-yeop said after the game, praising the duo for holding the team to one run in the sixth inning. "It was a difficult game as the chasing pack swung wildly, but Yoo Young-chan was able to hold the center and finish the game with a win." "I would like to praise him for his hard work," said Yoo.
"In the batting order, Hong Chang-ki's RBI single to tie the game and the big inning in the seventh inning was the biggest factor in our victory," said Yeom. "Hong with three RBIs and Austin with a three-run homer led the batting order, and I want to commend the players for their focus in a tough game at the end," he said.
"The fans who stuck with us in the bad weather helped us finish well. Thank you," he said, thanking the fans for sticking around in the rain.