This July 26, 2025, photo shows SSG Landers starter Kim Kwang-hyun in action against the Hanwha Eagles during the clubs’ Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game at Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark in Daejeon, some 140 kilometers south of Seoul. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — Starter Kim Kwang-hyun threw six gutsy innings and the offense backed him up with two home runs, as the SSG Landers defeated the Doosan Bears 7-2 on Friday to stretch their winning streak to five.
The Landers, who stayed in fourth place at 49-46-4 (wins-losses-ties), own the longest active winning streak in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) after their victory before 15,073 fans at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul.
The Bears, stuck in ninth place, dropped to 41-54-5.
The Bears put the first run on the board in the bottom of the first inning. Jung Soo-bin drew a leadoff walk and advanced to third on a single by Lee Yu-chan. Two batters later, Yang Eui-ji brought Jung home with a groundout.
The Landers answered right back in the top second, with Lee Ji-young’s two-out double off starter Gwak Been plating Ha Jae-hoon, who had reached on an error and stolen second base.
After the Landers failed to score with two men on and nobody out in the top third, the Bears regained their lead in the bottom third.
With runners at second and third following a walk, a single and a wild pitch, Park Jun-soon cashed in the go-ahead run with a groundout to third.
But then the Landers went ahead with two runs in the top fifth.
Jeong Jun-jae drove in the tying run with a single, as Kim Sung-hyun, who’d hit a one-out double, slid just past the tag of catcher Yang Eui-ji and touched the plate with a desperate dive.
Choi Jeong then smoked a double off the center field wall to put the Landers up 3-2 and reach the 1,600th RBI milestone.
The Landers extended their lead to 4-2 in the top sixth when Kim Seong-uk greeted new pitcher Choi Won-joon with a solo home run to left-center field. It was Kim’s first home run of the season.
Ha Jae-hoon’s two-run blast in the top seventh pushed the Landers’ lead to 6-2, and Kim Sung-hyun put the game further out of the Bears’ reach with an RBI single in the top eighth.
Choi, whose RBI stood as the winning run, said he concentrated extra hard not to strike out in that at-bat after he went down swinging in his two previous trips against Gwak.
“I had my timing down on a fastball in that situation,” said Choi, the KBO’s career home run leader still batting an uncharacteristic .213 this season. “I want to help the team win as much as I can. I’ve been getting a lot of help from my hitting coaches lately. They’ve been working with me on how to best use my power and strength.”
Kim Seong-uk, who joined the Landers in a trade from the NC Dinos on June 7, had not homered since Sept. 19 last year.
“I didn’t think the ball would go over the fence when I hit it,” Kim said. “When I was rounding the bases, I was worried my teammates would give me the silent treatment in the dugout. Thankfully, they all gave me high-fives. It felt really good.”
Kim set career highs with 17 homers and 60 RBIs only last season but got off to a slow start this year before getting shipped out of the only team he’d played for since his career began in 2013.
“After I got traded, I told myself this would be the last team I’d play for in my career and I wanted a fresh start,” said Kim, who had earlier dealt with an oblique injury. “I think I got hurt because I was trying to do too much when I wasn’t physically ready. Now that I am back, I want to stay healthy for the rest of the season and help the team win.”
Neither starter was sharp in this game, though Kim Kwang-hyun did just enough to win his third straight decision. He is now 7-7 with a 3.90 ERA.
He allowed two runs on four hits and four walks — equaling the total from his four starts in July — over six innings. But Kim, who struck out five, saved his best for his final inning of work, the bottom sixth, when he fanned two batters. After getting Kim In-tae to whiff on his signature slider, the left-hander hopped off the mound and pumped his fist on his way back to the dugout.
Kim threw 102 pitches, 62 for strikes. He offered a five-pitch mix, throwing 29 four-seam fastballs, 22 sliders, 21 curveballs, 16 cutters and 14 changeups.
Gwak Been allowed three runs — one unearned — on six hits in five innings, though he also struck out his season-high eight batters.
(Yonhap)
