KT won a hard-fought 3-2 victory in Game 1 of the 2023 Shinhan Bank Throwdown KBO KS at Jamsil Stadium on July 7 thanks to Moon Sang-chul’s game-winning hit in the ninth inning.
The score remained tied at 2-2 until the eighth inning, but KT scored the winning run in the ninth.
With two outs in the top of the ninth, Bae Jae-dae walked and Moon Sang-chul hit a timely double to the top of the left field fence to give KT a 3-2 lead.
Moon Sang-cheol had a disappointing moment when he failed to bunt in the second inning, setting the stage for a triple, but he ‘disappeared’ in the ninth inning with the game-winning hit. 온라인카지노 He was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the day and took home a prize of 1 million won.
After losing two games in the PO against the NC Dinos, KT won three straight games to advance to the KS and continued their momentum by winning the first game.
They also had a 74.4% chance of winning.
Excluding 1982, when the first game ended in a tie, the team that won the first game has won the KS 29 of the 39 times in history.
LG, which topped the regular season, started the KS with a loss in its first appearance in 21 years. There was a bit of a cloud hanging over their chances of winning the KS for the first time in 29 years.
LG, which had a long break after playing the final game of the regular season on March 15, committed four errors.
KT struck first.
In the top of the first, Kim Sang-soo singled up the middle and stole second, advancing to third when LG catcher Park Dong-won made a throwing error at second base. Hwang Jae-gyun hit a grounder to shortstop, allowing Kim to score.
LG answered right back.
In the bottom of the first inning, Park Hae-min and Kim Hyun-soo hit back-to-back singles to put runners on first and third. On Austin Dean’s infield grounder, KT second baseman Park Kyung-soo made an error throwing to the shortstop to catch the runner at first, allowing Park Hae-min to come home from third.
LG loaded the bases with a single by Oh Ji-hwan, and Moon Bo-kyung hit a sacrifice fly to make it 2-1.
KT tried to make a comeback in the top of the second inning, putting runners on first and second with no outs after an error and a single to left by Choi Jae-dae.
However, they were unable to score as Moon Sang-chul’s bunt was followed by a single and a walk to load the bases with three outs
Moon’s bunt fell right in front of the catcher, and LG catcher Park Dong-won threw to third to get out Jang Jang-woo, who ran from second to third. The third baseman threw to first base to catch Moon at the plate. The inning then ended when Choi Jae-dae, who had run from second to third, was thrown out at the plate.
KT tied the game in the fourth inning.
Back-to-back singles by Hwang Jae-gyun and Anthony Alford put runners on first and second with no outs. Park Byung-ho struck out, but Jang Sung-woo hit a single to right-center.
Despite the error, KT had to settle for the tying run.
After receiving a ball from LG right fielder Hong Chang-ki, Oh Ji-hwan’s throw to the plate went wide, and Alford, who had advanced from first to third, was thrown out at home. Pitcher Casey Kelly’s throw to the catcher went sideways, allowing Alford to score, but first baseman Austin caught the throw from catcher Park Dong-won and tagged Alford out.
The score remained 2-2 as Kelly and Ko did not allow any more runs.
In the seventh inning, Son Dong-hyun pitched two scoreless innings to keep the game close, but KT got the decisive hit in the ninth inning to take the win.
KT starter Ko Young-pyo did not get the win, but earned the victory with six innings of seven hits, three walks and two runs (one earned).
The win went to Son Dong-hyun. Park Young-hyun came on in the bottom of the ninth and struck out the side in order to earn the save.
Kelly did his part with 6 1/3 innings of four-hit ball, six strikeouts, two walks and two runs (one earned), but couldn’t smile in the loss.
Go Woo-seok, who gave up the game-winning hit in the ninth inning, took the loss after pitching one inning of one-run ball.