Kiwoom's Kim Jae-hyun Hits Dramatic Walk-Off Grand Slam to Seal Victory Over KIA

The Kiwoom Heroes secured a two-game winning streak against the KIA Tigers thanks to a dramatic, ninth-inning, two-out walk-off grand slam by Kim Jae-hyun.

Kiwoom won 8-7 in their home game against KIA at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul today (August 23).

The game once again proved the old adage, "It's not over until it's over."

KIA had built a 7-2 lead heading toward victory, fueled by a solo shot from league home run leader Kim Do-young in the third inning—his 38th of the season—followed by a two-run triple from Park Jae-hyun in the sixth, and a two-run homer and an RBI single by Kim Tae-gun and Kim Sun-bin, respectively, in the eighth.

Facing a five-run deficit entering the bottom of the ninth, Kiwoom leadoff hitter Kwon Hyuk-bin ignited the dramatic comeback with a single to right field.

After one out, back-to-back singles by Seo Gun-chang and Choo Jae-hyun loaded the bases.

With a save situation unfolding, the KIA bench pulled Lee Tae-yang and brought in new closer Lee Eui-lee.

Kiwoom capitalized as Matt Davidson hit a two-run RBI single off Lee Eui-lee, followed by an intentional walk to Ahn Chi-hong, narrowing the gap to 7-4.

Pinch hitter Yeo Dong-wook swung and missed at a 157 km/h fastball from Lee Eui-lee for a strikeout, bringing Kiwoom to two outs and seemingly dampening their momentum.

Step up to the plate was catcher Kim Jae-hyun, who had entered the game as a defensive replacement at the top of the ninth.

With a meager .100 batting average (one hit in 10 at-bats) and scarce opportunities this season, the veteran backup catcher pulled a 155 km/h fastball from Lee Eui-lee on a 2-2 count over the left-field fence.

It was a walk-off grand slam that turned the game around to 8-7.

This marked Kim Jae-hyun's first home run of the season and the eighth of his professional career, coming 1,551 days after his previous home run against the LG Twins on May 25, 2022.

It was the 26th walk-off grand slam in KBO League history.

All three instances in KBO history where a team trailing by three runs pulled off a comeback victory via a walk-off grand slam have occurred with two outs.

Thanks to Kim Jae-hyun's single swing, the LG Twins reclaimed third place after four days.

LG secured a dominant 12-3 victory against the Hanwha Eagles at Hanwha Life Ballpark in Daejeon.

Having suffered a shocking 15-11 comeback loss on August 21 after leading 9-0, LG bounced back with powerful bats to snap a two-game skid.

Improving to 61 wins, 1 tie, and 50 losses, LG pushed KIA (60 wins, 2 ties, 50 losses) down to fourth place by half a game to take over third.

LG built an 8-0 lead early in the game, sparked by Moon Jeong-bin's three-run homer—his 15th of the season—in the first inning, followed by Song Chan-ui's three-run shot—his 12th of the season—in the second.

Although starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco gave up three runs due to an error in the third, Austin Dean added an RBI sacrifice fly in the fourth and LG added three more runs in the eighth to secure the victory.

Austin achieved the 30-homer, 100-RBI milestone for the second time, following 2024.

League leader KT Wiz and second-place Samsung both won their respective games to maintain a one-game difference.

The gap between Samsung and third-place LG stands at five games.

KT defeated the SSG Landers 3-1 in Incheon, while Samsung beat the NC Dinos 2-1.

In Jamsil, the Doosan Bears beat Lotte 3-1, propelled by Kwak 빈's stellar pitching performance of 7 scoreless innings with just 1 hit, 2 walks, and 8 strikeouts.

Facing Victor Reyes in the first inning, Kwak recorded a TrackMan-measured 159.13 km/h pitch, setting his personal highest velocity of the season.

Reaching his 10th win of the season, Kwak firmly maintained his position as the league leader in both ERA (2.33) and strikeouts (161).

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.