A grand slam home run by Kim Sang-su gave the Samsung Lions a walk-off win on Friday, defeating the Lotte Giants 7-3. The win for the Lions opened up a three-game series hosted at their home ballpark, the Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, South Korea.
The Lions had to battle back to tie up the game, as the Giants put down three runs in the first two innings of the game to take a lead. The game was tied by the seventh inning at 3-3.
Giants Score Early To Take Three-Run Lead
The first two runs for the Giants came in the first inning, with hits from Lee dae-ho and Lee Byung-kyu scoring a run each. An inning later, Son Ah-seop brought in a third run to put the team up by three.
All runs came against Lions starter Won Tae-in, who pitched six innings in total.
Lions Build Comeback
The Lions started to score in the third inning, taking in one run to chip away at the lead that the Giants had. Park Hae-min was scored with an RBI after batting home a run.
A solo home run from Kang Min-ho brought the game within a run in the sixth inning. Giants starter Adrian Sampson was pulled from the game after the inning.
The game was tied an inning later, with a hit from Kim Dong-yeop taking Kim Ji-chan home. The run was scored against reliever Koo Seung-min, who was able to finish the inning after.
Kim Given Loss
The game-deciding home run in the ninth came against Giants closer Kim Won-joong, giving him the loss for the game. On the other hand, the ninth-inning pitcher for the Lions, Oh Seung-hwan, was awarded the win for the game.
Giants Risk Falling Out of Wild Card Run With Final Games Ahead
Neighbouring each other on the rankings in eighth and seventh place respectively, the Lions and Giants are in a much similar position. With just over a week left in the season, both teams sit on the brink of being mathematically unable to make the playoffs.
Now with a record of 64-61-1, the Giants are five-games behind the wild card-ranked Doosan Bears, with the Kia Tigers also sitting in-between them.
The Lions will host the Giants twice more this week, playing games on Saturday and Sunday. Tomorrow’s game has a first pitch scheduled for 5:00PM KST (4:00AM EDT).
Around The KBO
Casey Kelly worked all nine innings for the LG Twins on Friday, allowing only two hits and leaving the NC Dinos scoreless in a 2-0 game.
A shutout win went to the Doosan Bears, who defeated the KT Wiz 4-0 on the road.
Tied after two innings at 3-3, two runs later in the game from the Kia Tigers game them a 5-3 win over the SK Wyverns.
After a hectic four innings had the Kiwoom Heroes and Hanhwa Eagles tied 6-6, a hit from Jung Jin-ho in the sixth inning drove home a deicing run to give the Eagles a 7-6 win.
JackWannan.com 