Chae Eun-seong of the Hanwha Eagles rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run against the LG Twins during a Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on May 28, 2025. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, May 28 (Korea Bizwire) — The offense struck early and came through late, as the Hanwha Eagles beat the LG Twins 6-5 in extras Wednesday in a battle of the two best teams in South Korean baseball.
After the Eagles frittered away a 4-0 lead, Chae Eun-seong hammered a two-run home run with two outs in the top of the 11th inning to put the visiting team ahead for good in front of a sellout crowd of 23,750 at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul.
The Twins are still in first place in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) but dropped to 34-19-1 (wins-losses-ties). The Eagles are now 2 1/2 games back in second place at 32-22-0.
The Eagles wasted no time getting on the board, as Estevan Florial opened the game with a towering solo home run off starter Coen Wynne.
Moon Hyun-bin of the Hanwha Eagles hits an RBI double against the LG Twins during a Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on May 28, 2025. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
The Eagles then scored three times with two outs in the top third. With a man at second, Ha Ju-suk singled up the middle for a 2-0 lead. Moon Hyun-bin then lined a double to the right field for a 3-0 advantage, and came home to make it 4-0 on a single by Roh Si-hwan.
Eagles starter Cody Ponce retired the first 10 batters he faced, but the first hit he gave up left the yard, as Kim Hyun-soo drilled a solo home run in the bottom fourth and cut the Twins’ deficit to 4-1.
The Twins launched another solo home run off Ponce to get within 4-2, this time Lee Young-bin sending a belt-high changeup into the seats in right field in the bottom sixth.
The Twins pulled even in the bottom seventh, after setting up a scoring opportunity with an unconventional double steal.
Park Dong-won and Moon Bo-gyeong stood at first and second with nobody out after hitting a single and getting hit by a pitch, respectively. When Gu Bon-hyeok failed to put down a sacrifice bunt, Park was caught halfway between first and second, with Moon also straying off the second base bag.
At least one of the runners appeared in danger of getting tagged out, but then the Eagles infielders threw the ball around without retiring either of them. Park and Moon moved up a base and were each credited with a steal.
Ponce nearly escaped the mess by striking out Gu and then pinch hitter Oh Ji-hwan. But No. 8 hitter Park Hae-min blooped a single to shallow left field that brought home both runners to make it a 4-4 game.
The Twins had a chance to win the game with two outs in the bottom ninth, when Park reached second after hitting a single and reliever Kim Seo-hyeon threw a wild pitch. But Kim dug deep and struck out Lee Young-bin to send the game to extras.
Then in the top 11th, Chae stepped in against reliever Park Myung-geun with a runner at first. At 3-1 count, Chae clobbered a belt-high fastball and drove it deep into the seats in left for the tiebreaking homer.
The Twins didn’t go down quietly, as Park Dong-won drilled a solo home run with one out in the bottom 11th to make it 6-5.
The Twins then loaded the bases with two walks sandwiching a single, but Ham Chang-geon struck out swinging against reliever Cho Dong-uk to end the game.
(Yonhap)
