Just one month before the deadline, Moon Bo-kyung finally recorded his first extra-base hit in 21 days. The national team's fourth hitter, who had finally awakened, led LG to a fierce chase for first place, trailing by just 4.5 games.

*This content was translated by AI.

National team fourth hitter Moon Bo-kyung (26) delivered an extra-base hit for the first time in a while, leading his team LG Twins to their first consecutive wins of the second half.

On the 19th at Seoul Jamsil Baseball Stadium, Moon Bo-kyung started as the third baseman and batted sixth in LG's home game against KT Wiz in the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League regular season. He went 2-for-3 with one walk, helping secure a 1-0 victory for LG.

This was the only multi-hit game of the match and marked Moon Bo-kyung's first extra-base hit in three weeks. Struggling with poor performance this season, Moon had not recorded an extra-base hit since his 2-for-4 game (one home run, one RBI) against Kiwoom Heroes at Gocheok on the 29th of last month.

As a result, he was often left out of the starting lineup, but today was different. After being retired by an outfield fly ball in his first at-bat of the first inning, Moon Bo-kyung warmed up with a ground-rule double to center field during the fourth inning, facing a 0-ball, 2-strike count against his first opponent, Daniel Davis. He successfully handled all of Davis's various breaking balls before pulling on an outside changeup for a hit.

Against familiar pitchers, he delivered extra-base hits. In the bottom of the sixth inning with one out, Moon Bo-kyung lofted a 150 km/h fastball from Kouki Sugimoto that was low and drove it through the gap between left and center field. He reached second base and celebrated with a gesture to lift the team's spirits for the first time in a while.

He also showed strong defensive play. In the bottom of the seventh inning with two outs, he cleanly fielded an irregularly bouncing ground ball hit by Heo Kyung-min and threw it to first base to end the inning. Thanks to this, LG secured their first consecutive wins of the second half and their second winning streak, reaching 60 victories for the third time in the league. They narrowed the gap with first-place KT Wiz to just 4.5 games and began a fierce chase. Meanwhile, on the same day, second-place Samsung Lions won, reducing the gap between first and second place to zero and creating confusion in the standings.

After the game, Moon Bo-kyung said, "We've been struggling with back-to-back losses since the start of the second half, so it feels great to win this tough game and achieve consecutive wins. Since we were playing against the first-place team, I really wanted to win."

Moon Bo-kyung's resurgence is also a welcome development for manager Ryu Ji-hyun. The South Korean national baseball team, led by Ryu, will begin preparations for the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games from mid-September. They will then depart for Japan and start their gold medal hunt with the first group stage match against Taiwan on September 21st.

Facing a strong Taiwanese team and playing in Japan's home ground, difficult matches are expected. In this context, the performance of national team fourth hitter Moon Bo-kyung is essential. During the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) Round 1 match against Australia in March this year, Moon Bo-kyung contributed four RBIs, including a go-ahead two-run home run, leading South Korea to their first advancement to the second round (quarterfinals) in 17 years. His 11 RBIs in the first round tied the record for most RBIs by a Korean player in a single WBC tournament, previously set by Kim Tae-gyun in 2006.

However, due to a back injury sustained during the WBC, he was unable to prepare properly for the season, resulting in poor performance. This season, over 82 games, he hit .240 (64 hits in 267 at-bats) with eight home runs and 46 RBIs, marking his worst stretch since his debut season. Particularly concerning was his slugging percentage, which had dropped to as low as .363.

Aware of this situation, Moon Bo-kyung said, "Rather than focusing on hitting for extra bases, I try to swing based on my own timing and balance." He added with a smile, "I felt okay during practice after yesterday's (18th) game, but today didn't go well, so I was very worried. Still, I'm glad we got good results. It seems that taking night shots, even if not perfect, helped more than not doing them at all."

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*This content was translated by AI.