▲ Sam Hilliard hits his 38th home run of the season with a grand slam.
KT Wiz's standout foreign hitter, Sam Hilliard, has fueled the late-season home run race.
Hilliard blasted a dramatic grand slam in the top of the 9th inning during an away game against the SSG Landers at SSG Landers Field in Incheon.
Recording his 38th home run of the season, Hilliard has closed to within striking distance of home run leader Kim Do-young (40 homers, KIA Tigers) and Austin Dean (39 homers, LG Twins).
Hilliard, who has been showing fierce batting form by slugging 8 home runs this month, has raised his chances of capturing the home run crown. Not only is Kim Do-young currently away due to his participation in the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, but Hilliard also has one more game remaining in the season than Austin.
League leaders KT defeated the SSG Landers 8–2, powered by Hilliard's insurance grand slam.
Securing their third consecutive win, KT maintained a 3.5-game lead over the second-place Samsung Lions, moving one step closer to a direct ticket to the Korean Series.
KT took an early lead in the top of the 1st inning when leadoff hitter Choi Won-jun hit a right-field double off SSG starting pitcher Pedro Avila, subsequently crossing home plate following a sacrifice bunt and a groundout.
SSG tied the game in the bottom of the 3rd inning on an RBI single by Guillermo Heredia, and then took a 2–1 lead in the 6th when pinch hitter Oh Tae-gon delivered an RBI single.
However, KT leveled the score at 2–2 in the top of the 7th with one out and runners on first and second when Kwon Dong-jin hit an RBI single to right field, followed by Kim Min-hyuk's left-field single that reclaimed a 3–2 lead for KT.
In the top of the 9th, KT added a run following an opponent error before Hilliard launched a grand slam over the center-field fence to seal the victory.
In Daegu, the Samsung Lions breathed a sigh of relief by defeating the NC Dinos 8–5.
Snap-ping a two-game skid, the second-place Samsung widened their gap over the third-place LG Twins to 2.5 games.
NC fell into an eight-game losing streak.
The fifth-place Doosan Bears bounced back from a two-game skid by defeating the Kiwoom Heroes 5–3.
In Daejeon, the Lotte Giants shutout the Hanwha Eagles 7–0, fueled by three home runs and a stellar pitching performance from starter Jeremy Beasley.
The eighth-place Lotte extended their winning streak to four games with the landslide victory, while the ninth-place Hanwha sank deeper into an eight-game losing streak.
Beasley pitched 7 scoreless innings, striking out 11 batters while allowing only 4 hits, to reach the 10-win milestone (7 losses).
Hanwha's expected starter, Ryu Hyun-jin, was pulled after allowing 5 runs on 3 hits—including two home runs—and 2 walks through 3 innings, suffering the loss.
(Photo provided by KT Wiz, Yonhap News)
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