LG Retains Top Spot Behind Austin's 2 HRs; Lotte Manager Kim Tae-hyoung Reaches 800 Career Wins

The LG Twins continued their run at the top of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) League standings, powered by the hot bat of Austin Dean.

LG secured an 8-6 comeback victory in their home game against the SSG Landers in the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League regular season at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Wednesday.

With a record of 38 wins and 23 losses, LG extended their winning streak to two games and maintained their lead at the top, 1.5 games ahead of the second-place kt wiz.

The key contributor to LG's victory was undoubtedly Austin.

In the bottom of the first inning with LG trailing 2-0, Austin hit his 18th solo home run of the season off SSG's Choi Min-jun with two outs and no runners on base.

On a 1-0 count, he swung hard at an inside two-seam fastball, sending it over the left fence.

Austin's bat delivered another crucial blow in the bottom of the fifth inning.

With LG trailing 5-2 and the bases loaded with one out in the fifth, Austin faced Lee Ro-un, once again targeting an inside pitch to clear the left fence.

He marked his 19th home run of the season with a go-ahead grand slam.

It was the second grand slam of his career.

With this home run, Austin tied Kim Do-young (KIA Tigers) for the league lead in home runs.

While Kim had pulled ahead by hitting three home runs in his last two games, Austin caught up on Wednesday with his two-homer performance.

LG extended their lead to 7-5 in the bottom of the sixth with a sacrifice fly by Goo Bon-hyeok.

After SSG closed the gap in the top of the seventh with an RBI double by Cho Hyung-woo, LG sealed the win in the bottom of the frame with an RBI single by Song Chan-eui.

In Busan, the Lotte Giants snapped their five-game losing streak by defeating the Doosan Bears 3-1.

Lotte manager Kim Tae-hyoung, who had been stuck on 799 career wins since a victory against the KIA Tigers in Gwangju on June 3 and suffered a five-game skid, became the seventh manager in KBO history to reach 800 career wins.

It was Lotte that broke the scoreless deadlock midway through the game.

In the bottom of the sixth, Lotte scored the opening run with a double by Na Seung-yeup with one out, followed by an RBI single from Jeon Min-jae.

With runners on first and third and two outs, Cho Se-jin hit a two-run triple to left-center, extending the lead to 3-0.

The Bears, who had been shut down by Lotte's pitching, managed only one run in the ninth inning on a home run by Oh Myung-jin.

Lotte starter Kim Jin-uk pitched well, allowing no runs on three hits and two walks while striking out three over 5 2/3 innings, but did not get the decision.

Instead, Lee Jin-ha, who came on as the team's second pitcher, threw 2/3 scoreless innings to earn his first career victory.

In Suwon, kt defeated the Samsung Lions 4-3, led by foreign starter Matt Sauer's strong performance of two runs over six innings.

Second-place kt widened the gap with the third-place Lions to 2.5 games.

Meanwhile, Samsung suffered their third straight loss, marking their third consecutive losing series since their three-game series against the NC Dinos that began on June 2.

kt's leadoff hitter Ryu Hyun-in opened the offense in the bottom of the second with a double that hit the center-field wall.

Following a sacrifice bunt by Han Seung-taek and a walk by Kwon Dong-jin, kt scored the first run on a shortstop groundout by Choi Won-jun with runners on first and third and one out.

In the bottom of the fourth, with runners on second and third and one out, Kwon hit a double down the right-field line to drive in both runners.

Leading 3-0 with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Han, who had laid down sacrifice bunts in his previous two plate appearances, singled to left to start another rally, which Choi capped with an RBI single.

However, in the top of the seventh, Sauer's no-hit bid ended after he walked leadoff hitter Choi Hyoung-woo and surrendered a double to Yang Woo-hyun.

Reliever Son Dong-hyun then gave up a 118-meter three-run home run to left field to Samsung's Lee Jae-hyeon with no outs and runners on second and third, allowing Samsung to close within one run.

Park Yeong-hyun, who took the mound in the top of the ninth, sealed the game by retiring the final two batters with a strikeout and a flyout with runners on first and second and one out.

Sauer earned his fifth win of the season.

In Daejeon, the fifth-place Hanwha Eagles defeated the fourth-place KIA Tigers 4-3, narrowing the gap between them to one game.

Hanwha took an early lead in the bottom of the first when Moon Hyun-bin hit his ninth home run of the season, a three-run blast off KIA starter Shirakawa Keisho, with runners on first and second and no outs following two walks.

In the bottom of the fifth, Kim Tae-yeon celebrated his 29th birthday by hitting his fourth solo home run of the season.

KIA fought back, closing the gap with a solo home run by Byeon Woo-hyeok in the top of the seventh and a two-run single by Aderlin Rodriguez in the top of the eighth.

However, with a runner on first and one out in the top of the ninth, pinch hitters Park Jung-woo and Park Jae-hyun struck out consecutively against reliever Cho Dong-wook, ending the comeback bid.

Hanwha starter Owen White earned his third win of the season (against two losses), allowing one run on six hits (including one home run) while striking out five over seven innings.

In Gocheok, the NC Dinos held off a late-game rally by the Kiwoom Heroes to secure a hard-fought 4-2 victory.

NC scored two runs in the top of the third using an opponent error and two sacrifice flies, and pinch hitter Cheon Jae-hwan hit a two-run single in the top of the ninth to extend the lead to 4-0.

However, NC's Ryu Jin-wook, who pitched in the bottom of the ninth, allowed two runs on two hits and a walk, and reliever Song Seung-ki loaded the bases with no outs by giving up two walks.

When Song fell behind 2-0 in the count against Keston Hiura, the NC bench brought in Bae Jae-hwan to escape the jam.

Bae struck out all three batters in Kiwoom's cleanup trio—Hiura, Lim Byeong-wuk, and Lee Hyeong-jong—to preserve the victory.

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