The home run race between Austin Dean (LG Twins) and Kim Do-young (KIA Tigers) is heating up.

Austin and Kim both hit their 29th home runs of the season in today's professional baseball games, maintaining a tie for first place in home runs.

Austin was the first to strike.

Austin hit a solo home run in an away game against the Hanwha Eagles held at Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon.
Stepping up to the plate with one out in the top of the first inning while LG was leading 2-0, Austin hammered a 144 km/h fastball on the first pitch from Hanwha starting pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin, sending it well over the left-field fence.

This marks his first home run in nine days since the game against the KT Wiz on the 16th.

The bat of Kim Do-young, who played a home game against the Kiwoom Heroes at Gwangju-KIA Champions Field, also exploded.

Kim hit a solo home run to right field with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning against Kiwoom pitcher Choi Hyun-woo, extending his team's lead to 8-3.

Hitting home runs in two consecutive games, Kim also reached 29 home runs to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Austin.

With the monsoon season ending and full-scale sweltering heat beginning, the home run competition between Kim Do-young and Austin is expected to become even more intense.

(Photo courtesy of KIA Tigers, Yonhap News)