
The Kiwoom Heroes rode a solid defense and batting lineup to a two-game sweep of the LG Twins to take the lead in the mid-table standings. LG was unfortunate to be swept as both of its big bats failed to deliver.
Kiwoom defeated LG 6-5 in a visiting game of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League regular season at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Saturday (15,054 total attendance). With the win, Kiwoom, which has won two straight games, moved up to seventh place with 18 wins and 24 losses, ahead of KT (18 wins, 1 draw and 25 losses). LG, on the other hand, remained in mid-table with 23 wins, two draws and 20 losses.
Kiwoom helped on the mound as all of the starting batters except Lim Ji-yul had a hit. Ronnie Dawson, Kim Hye-seong, Lee Ju-hyung, and Kim Hwijip each led the offense with multi-hit games. Starting pitcher Ariel Hourado earned her fourth win of the season, allowing four runs (three earned) on eight hits and four walks with two strikeouts in five innings. Cho Sang-woo (1 inning), Kim Sung-min (1 inning), Kim Jae-woong (1 inning), and Joo Seung-woo (1 inning) then combined for four scoreless innings of relief.
LG’s offense struggled early, as starter Dietrick Enns gave up six runs on nine hits and four walks with three strikeouts in 3⅔ innings. At the plate, Hong Chang-ki went 3-for-4 with a home run and an RBI and Park Hae-min went 2-for-3 with a home run and an RBI, but the other batters combined for just six hits. Kiwoom played tactical baseball in the fifth inning, actively putting runners on base to try to turn the game around, but it was unsuccessful.
Kiwoom’s lineup was Park Soo-jong (center fielder), Ronnie Dawson (left fielder), Kim Hye-sung (second baseman), Lee Joo-hyung (designated hitter), Choi Ju-hwan (first baseman), Go Young-woo (third baseman), Kim Hui-jip (shortstop), Lim Ji-yeol (right fielder), and Kim Jae-hyun (catcher). Ariel Hurtado started the game.
LG countered with Hong Chang-ki (right fielder), Park Hae-min (center fielder), Kim Hyun-soo (designated hitter), Austin Dean (first baseman), Moon Sung-joo (left fielder), Kim Bum-seok (catcher), Oh Ji-hwan (shortstop), Moon Bo-kyung (third baseman), and Koo Bon-hyeok (second baseman). Detrick Enns started the game.
From the start, Kim Hye-sung showed off his skills in front of major league scouts. In the top of the first inning, Austin Dean hit a ball that sailed well over the second base line. However, the ball went straight down the line as Kim made a jumping catch at second base.
It was Kiwoom who took the lead. In the top of the second inning, Choi Ju-hwan led off with a single up the middle. Go Young-woo laid down a sacrifice bunt to send Choi to second. Lim Ji-yeol drew a walk and Kim Jae-hyun singled to right to bring home Choi.
LG quickly evened the score. In the bottom of the second, Moon 사설토토 Sung-ju led off with a walk, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by the catcher. Oh Oh-hwan then hit a ground ball to bring Moon home. 1-1 tied.
In the top of the third inning, Kiwoom took the lead. Kim Hye-sung doubled and Lee Joo-hyung doubled again to center field to make it 2-1. Go Young-woo drew a full-count walk and Kim Hwijip took advantage of a wild pitch to load the bases. Lim Ji-yeol made it 3-1 with a pushing double and Kim Jae-hyun followed with a single to left field to end the inning.
Kiwoom shortstop Kim Hwijip prevented the big inning with a great catch. In the bottom of the third inning, Hong Chang-ki doubled, Park Hae-min singled, and Kim Hyun-soo grounded out to put runners on second and third with Austin hitting a hard line drive to the shortstop’s side of the infield, but Kim Hwijip blocked the ball and threw to first to end the inning, leaving only Austin at third base. LG’s 2-3 chase.
A back-and-forth battle ensued. In the top of the fourth, Dawson and Kim Hye-sung led off with back-to-back singles and Lee Joo-hyung was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Choi Joo-hwan sent a ball to deep right field to bring home Dawson, and Koh Young-woo followed with a single to left-center to bring home Kim Hye-sung. LG switched mounds from Enns to Kim Dae-hyun, but Kim added an RBI single up the middle to make it 2-6.
LG cut the deficit to 4-6 in the bottom of the fourth inning when Koo Bon-hyuk and Hong Chang-ki hit back-to-back RBI singles with runners on second and third. In the top of the sixth inning, with runners on first and third against reliever Cho Sang-woo, Park Hae-min hit a sacrifice fly to right field to make it 5-6.
However, no more runs were scored after that. LG continued to fail to load the bases. In the bottom of the fifth, Choi Seung-min, who replaced Kim Bum-seok at first base, failed to steal second base, and in the bottom of the seventh, Choi Won-young, who replaced Ho Do-hwan with runners on second and third, took the lead too wide at third base and was thrown out by Kim Jae-hyun.
After Cho Sang-woo, Kim Sung-min (1 inning), Kim Jae-woong (1 inning), and Joo Seung-woo (1 inning) pitched scoreless innings to give Kiwoom a thrilling one-run victory.