SSG Gets Another Win Against Leader KIA

SSG Landers pulled off a come-from-behind victory in a nail-biter.

SSG overcame a three-run deficit to win 10-6 against the Kia Tigers of the Shinhan Bank SOL bank KBO League 2024 at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field on Wednesday. Choi Jung-jeong, the top home run hitter in the league, hit a come-from-behind grand slam. It was the second consecutive winning series against the leaders. Kia's defense and bullpen collapsed in the second game.

SSG struck first in the top of the first inning. Leadoff hitter Park Sung-ki drew a walk and stole second. Two batters later, he attempted to steal third, but Kim Sa-yoon spotted him and threw him out at third, but third baseman Kim Do-young made an error that saved him. Soon after, Heredia led off the inning with a three-run single and Go Myung-joon followed with a two-run double over the center field fence for a 2-0 lead.

Kim's ERA was zero. The KIA bats answered right back. Seo Gun-chang singled to right and Kim Do-young singled to right to put runners on first and third with no outs. After Na Sung-beom grounded out to the pitcher, Choi Hyung-woo followed with a double to right-center. The two runners easily crossed home plate to tie the game at one. It was the Tigers' No. 4 hitter.

In the top of the second inning, Kia relieved Kim Sa-yoon and brought up Kim Gun-guk to prevent a run. The Tigers responded with a run in the third inning. In the first inning, Kim Do-young singled to shortstop and stole second. Two batters later, Choi Hyung-woo followed with a walk, and Socrates hit a two-million-won home run over the InkCoffee home run zone to make it a 5-2 game.

SSG didn't go down without a fight, pulling within one run in the top of the fourth inning on Oh Tae-gon's single to center and Park Sung-hwan's double to right-center two batters later. KIA scored a run in the bottom of the fifth inning when Kim Do-young and Choi Hyung-woo singled and Socrates hit a sacrifice fly to center field. The flow continued in KIA's favor. Socrates finished with four RBIs.

SSG had a golden opportunity in the top of the sixth inning. Oh Tae-gon singled to center and Ha Jae-hoon doubled to left-center to pull within one run, but an error by the opposing shortstop and a walk left the bases loaded, but Choi Ji-hoon struck out, Choi Jung grounded out, and Heredia grounded out to second. They were hoping for at least a tie, but the center field was silent.

Still, they didn't give up. In the seventh inning, a walk to Ko Myung-joon and a single to Lee Ji-young put runners on first and second with one out, but an error by Kim Do-young, who missed Ha Jae-hoon's throw, allowed a run to score. With runners on first and second, Park Sung-han tied the game with a double down the left field line. Choi Ji-hoon followed with a line drive to center field, but it was blocked by a super catch by Park Jung-woo in right field.

But there was one more majestic blow from the home run king. 안전놀이터 추천 In the top of the eighth inning, Choi led off with a single and then drove a fastball from Kia pitcher Kim Do-hyun over the right-field wall. It was the decisive game-winning home run. A walk and a hit batter later, Ha Jae-hoon hit a sacrifice fly to center field to make it 8-6. Heredia capped the scoring with a two-run double in the top of the ninth.

SSG starter Song Young-jin allowed five runs on six hits (one home run) with one walk and four strikeouts in four innings. The team scored two runs in the first inning, but gave up the tying run in the bottom of the inning and a three-run homer to Socrates in the third inning. However, Han Hoo-sol, Choi Min-joon, and Noh Kyung-eun took over and kept the damage to a minimum. Noh Kyung-eun earned the win with a scoreless first inning. Moon Seung-won struck out five to earn the save.

In the top of the second inning, Kia brought in Kim Gun-guk with runners on first and third to prevent further damage. Kim lasted 3⅔ innings, giving up two runs on five hits, but the bullpen faltered from there. Jang Hyun-sik gave up two runs (unearned) in the seventh inning on an error. Kim Do-hyun and Lee Hyung-beom couldn't stop the SSG bats in the eighth inning and beyond. Two errors by Kim, who had three hits and three runs, led to four runs.