'Austin's Game-Winning Home Run → Rios' First SV' LG's Five-Game Winning Streak Rolls On, Defeating Third-Place Samsung with Just Five Hits [Jamsil On-Site Review]

*This content was translated by AI.

LG Twins, showing superiority in both pitching and hitting, defeated the Samsung Lions and extended their winning streak to five games.

On the 24th, LG secured a 2-0 victory over Samsung in a regular-season home game at Seoul Jamsil Baseball Stadium as part of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League.

With the five-game winning streak, LG maintained sole possession of first place with a record of 47 wins and 26 losses. Samsung, now confirmed in third place after a losing streak, stood at 40 wins, 2 draws, and 30 losses.

LG took the lead in both pitching and hitting. In the starting pitcher matchup, LG's Anders Tolhurst pitched six innings, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out five batters without surrendering a run, earning his eighth win (five losses) of the season. Samsung's Jack O'Clocklin pitched 5⅓ innings, allowing five hits (including one home run) and two walks while striking out four, giving up two earned runs and recording his fourth loss (five wins) of the season.

LG's new foreign investor Yacel Rios recorded his first save in KBO debut, following up on a strong performance the previous day (23rd) that had left him with some regrets. Rios entered the game in the top of the sixth inning with no outs and bases loaded, having allowed Lewin Diaz to hit a double that brought in a run.

However, on this day, he took the mound in the ninth inning, striking out Park Seung-kyu on three pitches and retiring Diaz via a looking strikeout. Although Rios allowed Austin Dean to hit a ground-rule single to right field, he secured the win cleanly by striking out Kim Young-woong on a swinging strikeout.

Just five hits were enough to defeat Samsung. LG's Austin Dean became the top contributor with three hits in three at-bats, including one home run, one RBI, and one run scored, featuring the game-winning home run. He also took the lead in the home run race against Kim Do-young (KIA) by two home runs. Park Hae-min also contributed with two hits in two at-bats, two walks, one run scored, and three times reaching base. Samsung managed only four scattered hits, disappointing the 23,750 fans who filled Jamsil Stadium (the 32nd sellout of the season).

LG's lineup for the day was: Song Chan-ui (right fielder), Park Hae-min (center fielder), Austin Dean (designated hitter), Moon Bo-kyung (third baseman), Moon Jung-bin (first baseman), Park Dong-won (catcher), Oh Ji-hwan (shortstop), Gu Bon-hyeok (second baseman), and Moon Sung-ju (left fielder). The starting pitcher was Anders Tolhurst.

Samsung countered with Kim Sung-yoon (center fielder), Gu Ja-wook (left fielder), Park Seung-kyu (right fielder), Lewin Diaz (first baseman), Choi Hyung-woo (designated hitter), Kim Young-woong (third baseman), Ryu Ji-hyuk (second baseman), Kim Do-hwan (catcher), and Yang Woo-hyun (shortstop). The starting pitcher was Jack O'Clocklin.

The tightly contested 0-0 game was broken in the bottom of the fourth inning by Austin's game-opening home run. In the bottom of the fourth, leadoff batter Park Hae-min reached base with a double down the right-field line. Although he was caught attempting to steal third base, squandering the opportunity, Austin connected with O'Clocklin's fifth pitch, a inside sweeper, sending it far over the left-field fence. The shot traveled 125 meters, marking his 22nd home run of the season.

In the bottom of the sixth, a momentary mistake led to a run. With one out and a runner on first, Austin hit another extra-base hit to right field. However, the Samsung right fielder mishandled the ball, allowing runners to advance to second and third bases. Moon Bo-kyung seized the opportunity, sending the ball deep to left field to score another run.

Samsung failed to recover the run, sealing LG's victory. With this win, LG achieved its 2,800th all-time victory in KBO history, the fourth team to reach this milestone. Additionally, LG manager Yeom Kyung-yeop became the oldest manager in history to reach 700 career wins at 58 years, three months, and 23 days old.

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*This content was translated by AI.