With a run, LG increases their advantage over KT to 5.5 games.
The LG Twins pushed the Hanwha Eagles to an eight-game losing streak and extended their lead in the standings.
LG completed a 10-0 sweep of Hanwha in their 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League home game at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on Monday.
LG extended its lead over second-place KT WIZ, which lost on the day, to 5.5 games and is three games away from reaching 70 wins for the season.
A team that reaches 70 wins has a 75.8% chance of going directly to the Korean Series and a 60.6% chance of winning the Korean Series.
LG took a 1-0 lead in the fifth inning when Kim Hyun-soo hit a two-run triple to left-center field and scored on Austin Dean’s sacrifice fly to make it 4-0.
Then, in the bottom of the sixth, the bats came alive, combining two walks and five hits for six runs.
The center field trio combined for eight hits, led by Kim Hyun-soo with four and Austin and Moon Bo-kyung with two apiece.
Hanwha, which managed just five hits sporadically, lost its eighth straight game and dropped back to last place for the first time in 72 days since June 21.
KT, which had won four straight, was swept by the Kiwoom Heroes 2-6 at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul.
Ko Young-pyo, the master of the “quality start” (pitching six or more innings with three or fewer earned runs), was mauled by Kiwoom’s bats, giving up six runs on nine hits, including one home run, in five innings.
Ko’s streak of consecutive quality starts came to an end in the 12th.
Kiwoom took the lead in the first inning when Kim Tae-jin and Song Sung-moon singled to put two runners on base, and Lee Joo-hyung took advantage of Ko’s changeup for a two-run triple.
In the third inning, Song Sung-moon led off with a single to left field and Lee Joo-hyung again hit a changeup from Ko Young-pyo to put runners on second and third with a double to right field.
Kim Hwijip’s sacrifice fly brought in the third run, Lee Hyung-jong drew a walk to extend the opportunity, and Lim Byung-wook hit his sixth three-run homer of the season to end Ko’s streak of quality starts.
KT only managed to score one run in the fourth inning on a bases-loaded walk and one run in the seventh on a wild pitch.
In Daegu, the fourth-ranked NC Dinos thrashed the Samsung Lions 10-0.
Led by three home runs, the NC bats pounded six different Samsung bullpens for 16 hits and cruised to an easy win.
After scoring three runs in the first inning on three singles and a wild pitch, NC opened the scoring with a solo shot to left-center field in the second inning.
Kim’s three hits on the day were all long balls, including a home run and two doubles, including a solo arch to right in the eighth inning for a 5-0 lead.
NC tacked on two more runs in the top of the eighth to give Samsung the white flag, and celebrated the victory in the ninth with a two-run shot to left-center field by Kim Joo-won.
NC starter Tanner Tully gave up just one hit and survived the sixth inning to earn his second win. The Samsung bats were held to just two hits.
The fifth-ranked KIA Tigers cruised to their sixth straight win with a 10-2 blowout of the SSG Landers in Incheon.
KIA maintained its one-game lead over the NC and increased its lead over sixth-place Doosan to two games.
Kia’s ace pitcher Yang Hyun-jong earned the win with a dazzling no-hitter that allowed just two hits over seven innings, setting a new KBO record for most wins in a start (164).
The all-time wins leader, Song Jin-woo (210), has 163 starts and 47 relief wins. Yang Hyun-jong has all 164 of his 166 career wins, minus two relief wins, in starts.
The Kia bats, which have been explosive of late, helped Yang set a new record by combining for 14 hits, including three home runs.
Kia took a 2-0 lead in the third inning on Kim Do-young’s RBI double to left-center and Na Sung-beom’s RBI single to left.
In the fourth inning, Socrates Brito hit a solo arch to right-center and Chan-ho Park hit a two-run shot to left.
KIA pinch-hitter Na Sung-bum followed with an RBI single to right in the seventh and a three-run homer to right in the ninth to make it 6-2.
Table-setters Park Chan-ho and Kim Do-young each finished with three hits and three runs scored.
The game between the Doosan Bears and Lotte Giants, 먹튀검증 scheduled to be played at Sajik Stadium in Busan, was canceled due to rain.