'5 hours 5 minutes of intense battle' Park Hae-min delivers the walk-off hit in the 11th inning! LG defeats Hanwha 9-8 [Daejeon Live Review]

*This content was translated by AI.

It was an intense battle lasting a full 5 hours and 5 minutes. In the longest game of the year, the LG Twins faced a high-scoring affair with 32 combined hits from both teams, ultimately defeating the Hanwha Eagles to close the gap on the league leader.

On the 8th, LG defeated Hanwha 9-8 in a regular-season away game at the Daejeon Hanwha Life Eagles Park in the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League. With this victory, LG improved to 22 wins and 12 losses, narrowing the gap to the first-place KT Wiz (23 wins, 11 losses) by one game. Hanwha fell to 14 wins and 20 losses.

Both teams' starting pitchers failed to last beyond the fifth inning. Hanwha's Park Jun-young pitched 3⅔ innings, allowing 3 hits, issuing 4 walks, recording 5 strikeouts, and giving up 3 earned runs. LG's Song Seung-gi pitched 4 innings, allowing 5 hits (including 1 home run), issuing 2 walks, recording 7 strikeouts, and giving up 5 runs (3 earned). Song Seung-gi started strong with a KBO joint-second-best record of 6 consecutive strikeouts, but he left a bitter taste after surrendering 5 runs in the fourth inning alone.

A high-scoring game unfolded with 32 combined hits and 17 runs exchanged. For Hanwha, Noh Si-hwan went 3-for-6 with 1 home run, 2 RBIs, and 1 run; Sim Woo-jun went 2-for-2 with 1 RBI, 2 walks, and 2 runs; Kang Baek-ho went 3-for-6 with 1 RBI and 1 run; and Kim Tae-yeon went 3-for-6 with 2 runs.

For LG, Cheon Seong-ho contributed with 3 hits in 6 at-bats, 1 RBI, and 2 runs, excelling on both offense and defense. New fourth-order hitter Austin Dean went 3-for-6 with 1 home run, 2 RBIs, and 2 runs; Oh Ji-hwan went 4-for-6 with 2 RBIs and 2 runs; and Koo Bon-hyuk went 2-for-5 with 1 walk and 1 run, swinging the bat powerfully. Park Hae-min became the hero of the victory with a walk-off hit in the bottom of the 11th inning, going 2-for-4 with 1 RBI, 2 stolen bases, and 1 run.

On this day, LG lined up Hong Chang-ki (right fielder), Shin Min-jae (second baseman), Cheon Seong-ho (first baseman), Austin Dean (designated hitter), Oh Ji-hwan (shortstop), Koo Bon-hyuk (third baseman), Park Hae-min (center fielder), Lee Jae-won (left fielder), and Lee Ju-heon (catcher). Song Seung-gi was the starting pitcher.

Hanwha countered with a lineup of Lee Jin-young (center fielder), Yonatan Peraza (right fielder), Moon Hyun-bin (left fielder), Kang Baek-ho (designated hitter), Noh Si-hwan (third baseman), Kim Tae-yeon (first baseman), Heo In-seo (catcher), Lee Do-yoon (second baseman), and Sim Woo-jun (shortstop). Park Jun-young was the starting pitcher.

The early momentum belonged to the visiting LG. LG starter Song Seung-gi mixed fastballs and changeups effectively, dominating the field by striking out six consecutive batters through the second inning. LG also took the lead. In the top of the second, leadoff hitter Oh Ji-hwan and Koo Bon-hyuk recorded consecutive hits, and Park Hae-min executed a sacrifice bunt to load the bases. Lee Jae-won hit a fly ball to right field, bringing Oh Ji-hwan home from third base.

In the top of the fourth with two outs, Koo Bon-hyuk and Park Hae-min reached base on consecutive walks. Lee Jae-won then hit a single to the left side, just past the shortstop, driving in one run to make it 2-0. Hanwha starter Park Jun-young was replaced by Kwon Min-kyu after issuing a walk to Lee Ju-heon. While Kwon Min-kyu attempted a pickoff at second base during Hong Chang-ki's at-bat, Park Hae-min stole home from third base, extending LG's lead to 3-0.

However, Hanwha turned the entire game around in one swing. Trailing 0-3, Kang Baek-ho led off the bottom of the fourth with a hit to right-center. Noh Si-hwan then lifted Song Seung-gi's seventh slider over the center field wall. The home run traveled 148 meters, marking his sixth of the season, with a batted-ball speed of 177 km/h.

Kim Tae-yeon kept the momentum going with a clever play. After Kim Tae-yeon reached on a single to left field, a ground ball hit by Heo In-seo was initially ruled an out after third baseman Koo Bon-hyuk threw to second base, but video review corrected the play to a safe call, leaving the bases empty with runners on first and second. Another throwing error on Lee Do-yoon's sacrifice bunt loaded the bases with no outs. Sim Woo-jun then drew a bases-loaded walk to score one run. Following this, Lee Jin-young's ground ball drove in a run, and Peraza's sacrifice fly to left field added another RBI, allowing Hanwha to take a 5-3 lead.

LG immediately responded. In the top of the fifth, leadoff hitter Cheon Seong-ho reached on an infield hit, and Austin Dean hit a two-run home run that just cleared the right-field monster wall, tying the game at 5-5. The game continued with lead changes. In the bottom of the sixth with two outs, Sim Woo-jun drew a walk against Kim Yun-sik. Lee Won-seok then hit a leadoff single to left field, and Sim Woo-jun quickly scored from first to take the lead, making it 6-5 for Hanwha.

However, LG's middle-order hitters quickly turned the game around. In the top of the seventh with one out, Cheon Seong-ho and Austin Dean recorded consecutive hits to load the bases. Oh Ji-hwan then hit a two-run double to right-center, giving LG a 7-6 lead. In the top of the eighth with two outs and a runner on third, Cheon Seong-ho hit a sacrifice double down the right-field line to score another run.

Despite several opportunities, Hanwha could not complete the comeback. With LG leading 8-6 in the bottom of the eighth with two outs and a runner on first, Peraza hit a single to center field, and Moon Hyun-bin drew a walk against reliever Jang Hyun-sik to load the bases. Kang Baek-ho hit a bouncer on a full count that LG third baseman Koo Bon-hyuk failed to field, allowing the runner from third to score. With two outs and the bases loaded, Noh Si-hwan came to the plate. Jang Hyun-sik struck Noh Si-hwan out looking on a full count.

In the bottom of the ninth, Kim Tae-yeon and Heo In-seo recorded consecutive hits to load the bases with no outs. On Lee Do-yoon's ground ball, Kim Tae-yeon hesitated at third base before charging home, tying the game at 8-8. Hwang Young-mok reached on a single to left field and stole second base, creating a runner on second and third with one out. Lee Won-seok's hit was caught by LG right fielder Hong Chang-ki with a sliding catch for the second out. Even Oh Jae-won was retired on a ground ball to shortstop, sending the game into extra innings.

In the bottom of the tenth with one out, Kang Baek-ho hit a large double to right-center field. However, Noh Si-hwan struck out swinging, and Choi Jae-hoon was retired on a fly ball to center field, failing to finish the game. Ultimately, LG ended the long battle. In the top of the 11th with one out, Austin Dean hit a single to right field, and Oh Ji-hwan hit a double to right-center, placing runners on second and third. On Koo Bon-hyuk's ground ball, Noh Si-hwan's throw to home plate resulted in an out at third base, but runners remained on first and third. Park Hae-min then hit a single to left field, finally breaking the tie.

In the bottom of the 11th, Hanwha failed to score, halting their winning streak.

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*This content was translated by AI.