Something happened in the game that no one saw coming. The starting pitchers for both teams didn’t last more than three innings combined. This was due to a combination of poor pitching and a wild game. It was a big party in the fourth inning. LG was the laughing stock.
LG won 13-7 against the Hanwha Eagles in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Daejeon Hanwha Life Eagles Park on Nov. 11. The win snapped a three-game losing streak and improved LG’s record to 34-2-2. The gap narrowed as first-place SSG lost to NC. Hanwha, on the other hand, failed to complete its first sweep of the season, falling to 21-3-33.
The two teams combined for a season-high 22 four-pitchers (15 balls and four balls to the body). That’s more than the 18 four-pitchers in the April 16 game against NC-SSG. Dishonors. For LG, Kelly had five, Park Myung-geun, Jung Woo-young, Baek Seung-hyun, and Ko Woo-seok had one each. For Hanwha, Kim Ki-jung had four, Kang Jae-min had three, Han Seung-ju had two, and Jang Min-jae, Han Seung-hyuk, Lee Tae-yang, and Jung Woo-ram had one each.
Both teams’ bats came out on fire in the first inning. In the top of the first, LG scored four runs against Hanwha starter Jang Min-jae, combining Austin’s RBI single and Moon Bo-kyung’s two-run double.
Then, Hanwha swung the bats just as hard. LG starter Casey Kelly took advantage of a shaky start. With runners on first and second in the bottom of the first, Noh Si-hwan started the rally with a two-out double. Chae Eun-sung then singled and Kim In-hwan walked to load the bases before Jung Eun-won singled to center field. Moon Hyun-bin followed with an RBI single and Park Sang-un with a sacrifice fly to make it 5-4.
Han took a quick mound change. Jang Min-jae got a quick hook. However, Hanwha’s game plan didn’t work out.
They gave up a run in the second inning. LG loaded the bases against the new pitcher, Kim Ki-joong, with a walk, a hit, and a sacrifice fly. Park Dong-won hit a two-run double to regain the lead. The score was 6-5, but it didn’t end there. With the bases loaded, Moon Bo-kyung took a six-pitch, 149-kilometer fastball from Han Seung-hyuk, the third Hanwha pitcher, for a grand slam. It was Moon’s first career grand slam. It was her seventh RBI. The score was 10-5.
The problem was, Kelly couldn’t get out of the second inning. In the bottom of the second inning, she gave up a hit by pitch to Chae Eun-sung and a walk to Kim In-hwan. The LG bench then made a change.
With runners on first and second, Jung Eun-won singled against the new pitcher, Yoo Young-chan, to make it 10-6.
Hanwha closed the gap again in the bottom of the fifth. Moon Hyun-bin doubled, pinch-hitter Jang Jin-hyuk grounded out to second, and Lee Do-yoon singled to put runners on first and third.
But LG drove a wedge into the game. They chased Hanwha’s Pil Seung-jo. In the seventh inning, with runners on second and third after Park Hae-min walked and Shin Min-jae singled, Kim Hyun-soo hit a single off Kang Jae-min. With the hit, Kim became the eighth player in history to reach 3,300 hits. Austin walked to load the bases, Park Dong-won hit a sacrifice fly, and Hong Chang-ki’s RBI single in the eighth completed the 13-run inning. 안전놀이터
Hanwha starter Jang Min-jae allowed four runs (unearned) on three hits and one walk with two strikeouts in 1 1/3 innings. LG starter Kelly struggled, allowing six runs on four hits and five walks with one strikeout in 1⅔ innings. Kelly’s 1⅔ innings were the fewest in his KBO debut.
At the plate, Moon Bo-kyung had a career-high seven-hit performance with four hits, including a grand slam. Kim Hyun-soo had three hits and Park Dong-won added two hits and three RBIs.