Cheon Seong-ho of the LG Twins (C) is congratulated by teammate Gu Bon-hyeok after hitting a walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th inning of a Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game against the Hanwha Eagles at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Aug. 8, 2025. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 8 (Korea Bizwire) – The LG Twins walked off the Hanwha Eagles 2-1 on Friday in a battle of the two best clubs in South Korean baseball, with the dramatic win keeping them at the top of the standings.
Cheon Seong-ho delivered a pinch-hit, game-winning single with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th, before a sellout crowd of 23,750 fans at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul.
The Twins improved to 64-41-2 (wins-losses-ties), with the Eagles now trailing them by two games at 60-41-3.
The teams traded zeroes for the first four innings, unable to cash in despite combining for 11 hits over those four frames. They put at least one runner on in each of those four innings, too.
The Eagles broke the deadlock in the top fifth against starter Im Chan-kyu. After Sim Woo-jun led off with a single and stole second, Son Ah-seop, in his second game as an Eagle following a July 31 trade from the NC Dinos, drove him home with a single to left.
It was Son’s first hit and first RBI for his new club.
The Twins couldn’t get a run off Eagles starter Ryu Hyun-jin, despite their share of opportunities.
Fans watch a Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game between the home team LG Twins and the Hanwha Eagles at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Aug. 8, 2025. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
They stranded two runners in the first inning, and consecutive two-out singles in the second inning amounted to nothing. Cleanup Moon Bo-gyeong bounced into an inning-ending double play in the third inning, before the Twins wasted a leadoff single by Kim Hyun-soo in the fourth.
Park Hae-min reached on an error by second baseman Ha Ju-suk to begin the fifth, but Ryu got three quick outs. Kim Hyun-soo’s one-out single in the sixth was wasted, too.
The Twins finally tied the score right in the bottom seventh, after Ryu left the game and the bullpen took over.
Facing reliever Joo Hyun-sang with two men on and two outs, Austin Dean dropped a single to shallow right field to drive in the tying run.
The Twins failed to finish the game in the bottom ninth when they had the winning run at second with one out against closer Kim Seo-hyeon.
After the Eagles went down quietly in the top 10th, the Twins grabbed another opportunity in the bottom 10th and didn’t miss it this time.
Kim Hyun-soo led off with a double — his 2,500th career hit — and was lifted for pinch runner Son Yung-jun. Oh Ji-hwan followed up with a double to left, but Son, thinking left fielder Moon Hyun-bin would have a play on the flyball, got a delayed start and couldn’t quite come home after Moon failed to make the catch.
With the first base open, the Eagles intentionally walked Park Dong-won to load the bases and set up a force play at every base.
Cheon quickly ended the game, though, by driving a first-pitch fastball past the diving second baseman Hwang Young-mook for his second career walk-off hit.
Cheon, who joined the Twins in a trade from the KT Wiz on June 25, had only seen limited action lately. He said he had been biding his time and trying to stay ready to step in if one of the regulars suffered an injury.
“I’ve only dreamed about finishing off a game in a situation like this, and I am so happy to have capitalized on this chance in such a crucial game,” Choe said. “My hitting coach told me I should swing at the first pitch if it was a fastball, and I got exactly that. Luckily, I hit it to the right spot.”
Twins manager Youm Kyoung-youb said his starter, Im, did his part as the starter, and three relievers that followed — Jang Hyun-sik, You Young-chan and Ham Deok-ju — deserved credit for piecing together three shutout innings.
“In a critical spot, Cheon Seong-ho delivered his first game-winning hit for our team,” Youm added. “I want to praise our players for giving their best each and every game.”
Neither starter got a decision despite some solid effort.
Ryu scattered six hits over six shutout innings for his first scoreless game since July 20 but remained winless over his last three starts. He lowered his ERA from 3.55 to 3.33, while staying at 6-6.
After giving up Son’s RBI knock, Im retired the next nine batters in a row before handing it over to the bullpen. He stayed 9-3 for the season, and his ERA went down from 2.91 to 2.84, the best mark by a South Korean pitcher in the KBO this season.
(Yonhap)
