Kiwoom Heroes win six in a row to move up to second place in KBO

Baseball

Published: 30 May. 2022, 15:22

Kiwoom Heroes win six in a row to move up to second place in KBO

Kiwoom Heroes outfielder Lee Jung-hoo celebrates after hitting a two-run triple at the top of the sixth inning of a game against the LG Twins at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul on May 24. [YONHAP]

The Kiwoom Heroes won six straight games over the last week to jump up to second place in the KBO, knocking the LG Twins down to third as the SSG Landers continue to hold on to a comfortable lead. At the other end of the table, the Hanwha Eagles put on a dominant performance to pull out of last place and start inching toward eighth.

The first-place Landers, second-place Heroes and fourth-place Kia Tigers all started their weeks on the right foot, sweeping their midweek series.

For Kiwoom that series was especially productive as the west Seoul club swept local rivals LG who had started the week in second place. The Heroes took three comfortable victories — 6-4, 10-5, 12-5 — to sweep the Twins and take second place, briefly knocking the rival Seoul club down to fourth before the Twins rallied over the weekend.

The Landers further cemented their lead by sweeping the Lotte Giants, a club that started the week in sixth before slipping to a distant seventh. The Landers didn't have it too easy against the Giants, winning their first and third games by only a narrow margin — 3-2, 6-5 — but taking the middle game by a comfortable 9-1.

The Tigers started their week by sweeping the Samsung Lions, another convenient matchup as the two teams were tied for fourth going into the series. It was another closely fought series, with the Tigers only decisively winning the middle game — 4-3, 11-5, 9-7.

The KT Wiz and Hanwha Eagles won the final two midweek series. The Wiz won two of their three games against the last-place NC Dinos — 2-3, 3-2, 2-1 — while the Hanwha Eagles edged out the Doosan Bears in a very high-scoring series — 2-6, 1-14, 24-3.

The Heroes continued that form going into the weekend, sweeping the Giants — 8-0, 6-3, 4-0 — to extend their winning streak to six games. That series also put the Giants on a six-game losing streak, with the Busan club scoring just 11 runs in the last week.

The Eagles were the only other team to pick up a sweep over the weekend, putting some distance between themselves and the last-place Dinos with three straight wins over the Wiz over the weekend, 4-0, 9-8, 12-4. The series put the Eagles three games above the last-place Dinos and only two and a half games behind the Wiz.

The Landers continued their reign with a series win against the Tigers, taking a comfortable 8-1 victory in the opening game before dropping the middle game 9-3 and winning the rubber match 9-7.

The Twins climbed back up to third with a series win over the Lions, winning the opening game 5-0 and the second 9-4 before the Lions took a consolation game 8-4. Dropping five games over the last week pushed the Lions down from fourth to sixth.

Koo Chang-mo returns to the mound for the NC Dinos for the first time in 575 days during a game against the Doosan Bears at Changwon NC Park in Changwon, South Gyeongsang on Saturday. [ILGAN SPORTS]

Finally, the Bears beat the Dinos on the road in Changwon, South Gyeongsang, winning the opening game 6-1 and dropping the second game 5-0 before taking a low-scoring rubber match 1-0. The middle game of that series was particularly notable as it saw NC ace Koo Chang-mo return to the mound for the first time in 575 days following a lengthy period of rehabilitation following an injury two years ago. Koo took the win, his first in 679 days.

The KBO returns Tuesday as the Tigers head to Seoul to play the Bears, the Wiz and Landers face off in Incheon, the Twins visit the Giants in Busan, the Lions play the Heroes in Seoul and the Dinos take on the Eagles in Daejeon.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]