The Kiwoom Heroes climbed back in the final three innings of a game versus the Lotte Giants on Friday, regaining a lead to win 8-4. The win, which was the second-straight for the Heroes in the series, came at the home field of the Giants, the Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan, South Korea.
The game was a close one that didn’t see the Heroes take the lead until the eighth inning. Their scoring innings before saw them catching up to the Giants.
Teams Tied Through Four
The Giants took a lead in the first inning after a hit from Lee Dae-ho drove home a runner.
The Wyverns answered back in the second, tying the game up after a solo home run from Kim Woong-bin. Responding later in the inning was Dixon Machado, who put the Giants ahead again with a solo home run of his own.
Tying it up yet again, baserunner Byeon Sang-kwon got home for the Wyverns in the third inning after a passed ball.
Giants starter Seo Jun-won was taken out of the game following the third inning.
Giants Take Two-Run Lead
Before the Wyverns took back the game for good, the Giants gained a lead in the fifth inning. After Jeon Jun-woo hit a two-run home run, the Giants moved to a 4-2 lead.
Heroes starter Yoon Jung-hyun was taken out of play later in the inning.
Heroes Have Three-Inning Rally To Win
The first of three innings that went strictly the way of the Wyverns was the seventh inning. After Choi Jun-yong allowed two runners on base, a sacrifice fly from Seo Keon-chang and a hit from Kim Hye-sung against reliever Koo Seung-min tied the game up.
With Koo still in the game in the eighth, a hit from Jeon Byung-woo took home a run that gave the Wyverns the lead. Koo allowed Jeon Byung-woo to get on base, a runner who was driven home by Kim Woong-bin once another reliever, Kim Dae-woo, took the mound.
Koo was given the loss for the game, making his 2020 record 4-1.
Furthering the game to its final score of 8-4, Kim Ha-seong hit a two-run home run in the ninth inning for the Heroes. The run came against Lee In-bok, who was taken out later in the inning for Oh Hyun-taek.
As Giants Drop, Heroes See Potential To Take First
The game was an important one for both teams in the standings.
After success earlier in August saw the Giants climb from eighth in the KBO to sixth, the team has now dropped down to seventh. With a 45-43-1 record, the Giants were overtaken on Friday by the Kia Tigers, who won their Friday game to make their record 47-44.
The Heroes could potentially take first place in the KBO this weekend, as the team’s win on Friday put them only half-a-game behind the first-place NC Dinos.
Giants To Wrap Up Week Against Eagles
The Heroes will head back home for their final two games of the week, hosting a small two-game series against the Samsung Lions.
Finishing off their week-long homestretch, the Giants will play a series on Saturday and Sunday against the Hanhwa Eagles.
The first pitch for Saturday’s games is set for 6:00PM KST (5:00AM EDT).
Around The KBO
Scoring six runs against NC Dinos starter Kim Jin-ho, the Doosan Bears were able to finish with an 11-4 score on Friday.
While the SK Wyverns were able to have a seven-run rally in the eighth inning, the team couldn’t catch up to the lead the Kia Tigers had before, allowing them to win 11-8.
A tied 5-5 game went into extra innings to find a winner, with a sacrifice fly from Jang Joon-won being the reason the deciding run came in for the LG Twins, who won against the KT Wiz.
A game between the Samsung Lions and the hosting Hanhwa Eagles was rained out.
JackWannan.com 