▲ Kang Min-ho celebrates his game-winning hit in the top of the 11th inning.
The Samsung Lions, notoriously strong on Saturdays, staged a thrilling comeback victory to reclaim first place after three days.
Samsung secured a 4-3 victory in a tight extra-inning battle against the LG Twins in their away match at Jamsil Baseball Stadium on Sept. 5.
Extending their Saturday winning streak to eight games and snapping a two-game skid, Samsung improved to 71 wins, 46 losses, and 3 draws with a winning percentage of 0.607. They leapfrogged kt wiz (69 wins, 45 losses, 3 draws, 0.605), who lost earlier in the day, to return to the top of the standings.
The game featured a stellar pitching duel between Samsung left-hander Lee Seung-hyun and LG's foreign ace Anders Tolhurst, keeping the scoreboard scoreless through five innings.
The quiet game broke open once both starting pitchers exited.
LG struck first in the bottom of the sixth inning with no outs and the bases loaded, when Koo Bon-hyuk smacked a two-run double into right-center field.
Though officially scored a double, the Samsung outfield fumbled, allowing the ball to slip past them.
LG added another run shortly after on Hong Chang-ki's sacrifice fly.
Trailing behind, Samsung capitalized on the LG bullpen in the top of the seventh by loading the bases with no outs, eventually tying the game at 3-3 thanks to an RBI single by Lee Jae-hyun.
The game was ultimately decided in the 11th.
In the top of the 11th, Samsung leadoff hitter Ryu Ji-hyuk singled to right field, advanced on a sacrifice bunt, and was driven home by veteran Kang Min-ho with an RBI single to left field for the crucial go-ahead run.
Japanese pitcher Miyamori Satoshi closed out the bottom of the 11th, giving up just one hit and no runs to secure the victory and earn his first save of the season.
Third-place LG saw their five-game winning streak come to a halt.
In Gwangju, the KIA Tigers defeated kt 6-3.
Tied 1-1 in the top of the third, kt's Ahn Hyun-min drew a walk and scored following a subsequent hit and a wild pitch, putting kt back ahead 2-1.
In the top of the fifth, Hilliard launched a solo home run over the center-field wall to extend kt's lead to 3-1.
However, the KIA offense exploded in the bottom of the fifth.
Kim Sun-bin drove in two runs with a triple, fueling a three-run rally that flipped the score to 4-3.
In the bottom of the eighth, Na Sung-bum crushed a two-run homer over the right-field wall to seal the game.
KIA starter Yang Hyeon-jong allowed three runs on seven hits over five innings, but earned his 10th win (6 losses) of the season with strong run support.
Kim Do-young, chasing the record for the youngest player to hit 40 home runs, went hitless in three at-bats with a single walk.
In Busan, the Hanwha Eagles rained down 14 hits to rout the Lotte Giants 11-6.
Hanwha took an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first when Shim Woo-jun and Moon Hyun-bin hit consecutive singles, followed by Kang Baek-ho's two-run double and Noh Si-hwan's RBI single up the middle.
Lotte immediately answered in the bottom half of the inning as Ko Seung-min blasted a three-run homer over the right-field wall to tie the game instantly.
The momentum shifted toward Hanwha in the late innings.
Shim Woo-jun hit a two-run homer over the left-field wall in the top of the seventh to put Hanwha up 5-3, and the Eagles batted around in the top of the eighth, erupting for six runs highlighted by Choi In-ho's two-run homer to put the game out of reach.
Winning for the second consecutive day, Hanwha tied with Lotte for eighth place.
Sixth-place NC Dinos edged the Kiwoom Heroes 2-1 in their away game at Gocheok SkyDome.
Extending their scorching seven-game winning streak, the NC Dinos closed the gap to 3.5 games behind the fifth-place Doosan Bears, who fell into a five-game losing streak.
NC manufactured two runs in the top of the second capitalized by an opponent error and Kim Hyung-jun's double.
Kiwoom clawed back a run in the bottom of the fourth on Keston Hiura's sacrifice fly.
Both bullpens threw scoreless baseball for the remainder of the game to lock in the final score.
NC's Lee Jae-hak made his first start in 704 days, pitching four innings while allowing one run on one hit and three walks.
Having completed a long rehabilitation following elbow ligament reconstruction surgery last year, Lee is expected to bolster NC's all-out push down the stretch.
In Incheon, the SSG Landers defeated Doosan 3-2, powered by Jeon Eui-san's home run.
The hero of the victory was Jeon Eui-san.
After hitting back-to-back home runs the previous day, Jeon propelled his team to victory once again by launching the game-winning homer.
Doosan, starting wins leader Choi Min-seok, took the initial lead in the top of the fourth when Kim Min-seok doubled and scored on a wild pitch.
However, SSG answered right back in the bottom of the frame.
After Park Seong-han singled up the middle and Guillermo Heredia drew a walk, Jeon Eui-san smashed a three-run home run over the left-center field fence to instantly turn the game around to 3-1.
It was Jeon's 10th home run of the season, a welcome addition after returning from his military service with Sangmu in early June.
Doosan pulled within one in the top of the fifth on Kim Min-seok's RBI single, but failed to complete the comeback, suffering their fifth consecutive loss.
(Photo courtesy of Samsung Lions, Yonhap News)
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