The Samsung Lions picked up an extra-innings win on Friday, defeating the hosting Lotte Giants 6-4. The win, which came at the Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan, Korea saw both starters play into deep innings.
Lions Start, But Giants Follow
No runs came early as the starting pitchers were able to keep hits to a minimum for half of the game.
The Lions started the scoring in the sixth with a solo home run from Lee Sung-gon. Later in the inning, a sacrifice fly from Koo Ja-wook brought a runner home to make the game 2-0.
The Giants answered back in the bottom half of the inning with a solo home run from Jeon Jun-woo.
Starting pitcher for the Lions Won Tae-in was taken out in the seventh after allowing five hits and one run in his outing.
The lead for the Lions got extended in the eighth after a hit from Lee Hak-ju made the game 4-1. Giants starter Dan Straily was taken out after this play. Straily, who has went deep into games many times this season now allowed eight hits and four runs in his appearance while attaining three strikeouts.
Also in the eighth inning there was an injury at second base as Lions player Lee Won-seok collided with An Chi-hong. Lee was helped off the field and replaced by Kim Sang-su. An was able to continue and eventually finish the game.
The Giants were able to tie the game up in the bottom of the eighth. First, a ground ball brought home a run. In the next play a hit from Lee Dae-ho drove Son home. The runs came against Choi Ji-gwang, who was taken out of play after for Woo Kyu-min.
With Woo in the game, the tying run came off the bat to pinch hitter Kim Jae-yoo, who took Kim Dong-han around from second.
Lions Win The Game
The Lions took the lead for good in the 10th against reliever Park Jin-hyung. Hits from Kim Sang-su and Kim Dong-yeop drove home runners and made the final score 6-4. The loss went to Park, his second over 22 appearances this season.
A good 10th inning pitching performance from Oh Seung-hwan gave the Lion his third save of the year.
Lions reliever Woo who appeared in the eighth was given the win for the game.
The Giants came into Friday after their longest layoff this season as their Wednesday and Thursday games were rained out.
Lions Ahead In Rankings, But Not By Much
The win put the Lions sixth in the KBO with a record of 23-23. This puts them half-a-game ahead of the 21-22 Giants.
The Lions, who are two-and-a-half games behind the fifth-ranked LG Twins, have a chance to extend their lead over the Giants as the series continues in the next two days. On the flip side, the Giants have room to take sixth place back as well.
First pitch for Saturday’s game is set for 5:00AM KST (4:00AM EDT).
Around The KBO
Strong pitching from the SK Wyverns, including a six-inning hitless performance from Lee Geon-wook, helped give the team a shutout 6-0 win over the LG Twins.
A big fifth inning sealed a win for the Hanhwa Eagles on Friday, winning against the KT Wiz 7-4.
A heavy-hitting game went in favour of the Kia Tigers on Friday, who defeated the Kiwoom Heroes 8-6.
In what is undeniably the most important series of the week, the NC Dinos kicked off their first of three games against the Doosan Bears on Friday. The first game went to the Dinos, who picked up a 9-3 which included a late ninth-inning rally that tacked five onto their lead.
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