The Kia Tigers’ seemingly unstoppable winning streak came to a halt at the number nine. It was Doosan side-arm pitcher Choi Won-jun, who had just two wins this season (9 losses), who stopped Kia’s bid for a 10-game winning streak for the first time in 14 years.
Doosan won 3-0 on Sunday at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul behind a five-inning no-hitter from Choi Won-jun and a game-winning home run from Yang Suk-hwan.
The win snapped a two-game losing streak and restored Doosan’s five-game winning streak to 56 wins and one draw, reigniting a five-way battle for the top spot. Sixth-place Doosan is now three games behind fifth-place KIA.
Choi Won-jun, a stalwart starter for Doosan for the past three years, has struggled mightily this season and was relegated to the bullpen after posting a dismal 2-9 record and 5.57 ERA prior to this game.
However, he got his chance to start again for the first time in about a month as fellow starters Choi Seung-yong and Kim Dong-joo were demoted to the second team due to injuries and poor performance.
Choi dominated the KIA hitters on the day, throwing a mix of sliders, curves, and changeups with his hard fastball reaching up to 143 kilometers per hour. The KIA bats, which were batting a team-best .351 during a nine-game winning streak the day before, struggled to find any offense.
Right fielder Cho Su-hyun’s RBI single took the pressure off Choi Won-joon’s shoulders. With two outs in the top of the fourth inning, Cho sprinted to catch Choi’s long fly ball just in front of the fence for a 1-0 lead. In the fifth inning, with runners on first and second, she also threw out KIA’s No. 9 hitter, Choi Won-joon.
Choi had thrown just 59 pitches in his four-hit, no-hit shutout until the fifth inning. However, a blister on his right middle finger came off and he had to hand the mound over to reliever Kim Myung-shin in the sixth inning. Kim Myung-shin was followed by Kim Kang-ryul (7th), Park Chi-guk (8th), and Chung Chul-won (8th) as Doosan put an end to KIA’s recent hot streak. Choi Won-jun picked up his third win, while Chung Chul-won, who came in with runners on first and second in the eighth and pitched one and one-third scoreless innings, earned his seventh save.
Designated hitter Yang Seok-hwan hit a leadoff solo home run off KIA starter Yang Hyun-jong in the bottom of the second inning to set the tone. With runners on first and third in the fourth, Jung Soo-bin’s grounder to the first baseman allowed Heo Kyung-min to score from third base, and pinch-hitter Kim In-tae’s RBI single in the seventh drove in the winning run.
KIA starter Yang Hyun-jong took the loss despite pitching well, allowing two runs (one earned) in six innings. However, Yang struck out 103 batters on the season, becoming the third player in KBO history to reach the 100-strikeout plateau for nine consecutive years.먹튀검증
After suffering a shocking come-from-behind loss to KT in the bottom of the ninth inning the day before, leader LG avenged the previous day’s defeat with an 11-4 victory over KT. Their lead over second-place KT is back to 6.5 games.
Down 0-2, LG tied the game in the third inning on a two-run double by Hong Chang-ki. Trailing 2-3 again in the top of the fourth, Oh Ji-hwan tied the game again with an RBI single and scored on Moon Sung-joo’s infield grounder with runners on first and third.
With one out in the top of the sixth inning and a 4-3 lead, Oh hit a two-run home run over the right field fence off KT starter Ko Young-pyo. Oh went 2-for-4 with a home run, three RBIs and two runs scored in the victory.
LG starter Lee Jung-yong earned his seventh win of the season (1-1), allowing three runs on nine hits over six innings.
In Changwon, NC swept a midweek three-game series with a 6-1 victory over Kiwoom. With their recent three-game winning streak, NC moved up to third place, ahead of SSG, who lost on the day.
NC took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Oh Young-soo hit a two-run double to center field, capitalizing on a bad pitch from Kiwoom starter Jang Jae-young. In the next at-bat, Kim Hyung-jun singled to right to load the bases and make it 4-0. After scoring a run in the bottom of the second on a sacrifice fly by Jae-Hwan Lee, NC added another run in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Gun-Woo Park to take a 6-0 lead and put the game out of reach early.
NC starter Tanner pitched seven innings of two-hit ball, while Kiwoom starter Jang Jae-young suffered his fourth loss of the season, allowing five runs on seven hits and four walks in two innings.
In Daejeon, Hanwha rallied back to beat SSG 4-3 behind the bat of Chae Eun-sung, who went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Chae delivered the game-winning hit with runners on first and second in the seventh inning with the score tied 3-3. In Ulsan, Lotte defeated Samsung 2-1 in extra innings thanks to Yoo Kang-nam’s game-winning hit. With runners on first and second in the bottom of the 11th inning against Oh Seung-hwan, Yoo lined a single down the left field line.