LG Captain Oh Ji-hwan makes up for an error with a tying and game-winning hit
LG Twins captain Oh Ji-hwan (33) is coming alive.
LG won a 2-1 home game against the Samsung Lions in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Jamsil Stadium on Wednesday, led by Oh Ji-hwan, who went 2-for-4 with a run scored, an RBI and a walk, including the tying run in the seventh inning and the game-winning hit in the eighth. With their first back-to-back wins since June, second-place LG (35-2, 23) maintained a 1.5-game lead over first-place SSG Landers (36-1, 21), who swept KT Wiz 8-1 earlier in the day.
LG sent de facto ace Adam Plutko to the mound, but failed to capitalise on Samsung’s Choi Chae-heung, who started immediately after being discharged from the Armed Forces Athletic Corps (Commerce) on Wednesday. After squandering a bases-loaded opportunity in the bottom of the second inning, LG struck first in the top of the fifth. Plutko singled to right off Samsung’s Kim Young-woong with two outs. Shortstop Oh Ji-hwan reached on an error that allowed Lee Jae-hyun to score one out later. LG fought back in the bottom of the fifth, putting runners in scoring position with a leadoff double by Moon Bo-kyung. However, the next two batters were stranded.
It was Oh Ji-hwan who turned the tide. He led off the seventh inning with a single to right field. He ran aggressively to second base. Moon Bo-kyung followed with a bunt and Lee Jae-won’s sacrifice fly to right field tied the game at 1-1. 스포츠토토
With momentum on their side, LG turned the game around in the bottom of the eighth. Oh Ji-hwan was the hero. After a leadoff walk by Kim Min-sung and a sacrifice bunt by Kim Hyun-soo, LG had a chance to score again. After Austin Dean grounded out to shortstop, Samsung walked Park Dong-won on an automatic double play. With left-handed reliever Lee Seung-hyun on the mound, the team opted to face Oh Ji-hwan with runners on second and third.
Oh swung hard at Lee’s first pitch. The hard hit ball went to the shortstop’s left. Samsung shortstop Lee Jae-hyun moved quickly and stretched out his glove, but the ball was too fast and sailed into left-centre field for the winning run.
Oh went through a severe batting slump in May, hitting just .222. Fortunately, he’s bounced back in June. He is batting .316 in 11 games in June, including this one. He was dealing with the aftermath of a side muscle injury earlier in the season, but has been producing quality at-bats as of late. His two hits on the day raised his season batting average from .259 to .265.
LG closer Ko Woo-seok pitched the top of the ninth inning, allowing one hit and striking out two to earn his third save of the season. It was his fifth game since returning from injury on the 1st of this month.