Austin Dean Hits Two Homers to Reclaim Home Run Lead as Kim Do-young Stays Quiet

On a day when Kim Do-young (KIA Tigers) saw his power surge come to a halt, Austin Dean (LG Twins) smashed two home runs to reclaim the sole lead in the home run race.

In a road game against the Kiwoom Heroes held at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul today (July 1), Austin hit a two-run homer to right field in the 5th inning and another two-run shot to center field in the 9th.

With his 25th and 26th home runs of the season, Austin moved one ahead of Kim Do-young.

Austin also added four RBIs, bringing his total to 79 and tying him with Kang Baek-ho (Hanwha Eagles) for the league lead in RBIs.

LG defeated Kiwoom 10-4, moving within one win of becoming the first team to reach 50 wins this season.

LG took an early lead in the top of the 2nd inning with a two-run homer to right field by Moon Sung-ju.

It was Moon's first home run in 300 days, dating back to September 4 of last year.

After the game was tied 2-2, LG pulled ahead again on Austin's home run in the 5th, but Kiwoom scored one run each in the 5th and 6th innings to keep the game deadlocked at 4-4 until the late stages.

The outcome was decided in the 8th inning.

With one out and runners on first and second, pinch hitter Cheon Seong-ho broke the tie with an RBI double to left-center, followed by a two-run double from Park Dong-won, extending LG's lead to 8-4.

Austin sealed the big win with another towering blast in the 9th inning.

In Changwon, the NC Dinos halted the Samsung Lions' six-game winning streak with a 10-5 comeback victory at home.

Trailing 1-5, NC sent all nine batters to the plate in the 7th inning, scoring a massive nine runs to force Samsung to concede.

With one out and runners on first and second, Kim Ju-won hit an RBI double to right-center, which was compounded by an error to bring in two runs. Kwon Hee-dong then hit a two-run homer to level the score at 5-5.

Taking advantage of the struggling Samsung bullpen, NC pulled ahead by two runs following a bases-loaded walk and a sacrifice fly, before Kim Hyung-jun capped the nine-run rally with a three-run homer to left-center.

Samsung's Choi Hyung-woo hit a leadoff solo homer in the 2nd inning, becoming the second player in history to record double-digit home runs for 19 consecutive seasons, but the milestone was overshadowed by the loss.

In Daejeon, kt wiz snapped a three-game losing streak with a hard-fought 7-4 victory over Hanwha.

After a game the previous day was declared a no-game due to rain, nullifying his home run, Hanwha's Kang Baek-ho hit a solo homer to right-center in the 2nd inning to take the early lead.

Trailing 0-1, kt tied the game in the 5th on a Kim Hyun-soo RBI single. With the bases loaded following a hit-by-pitch to Ahn Hyun-min, Sam Hilliard delivered a two-run single to center to extend the lead to 3-1.

Hanwha tied the game 3-3 in the bottom of the 8th with a double down the left-field line by Moon Hyun-bin and a sacrifice fly by Kang Baek-ho, both with one out and runners on first and second.

However, failing to score the go-ahead run with one out and a runner on third proved costly.

In the top of the 9th, kt's Ryu Hyun-in hit a two-out double and scored the winning run when Hanwha center fielder Moon Hyun-bin dropped a fly ball hit by the next batter, Kim Min-hyuk.

kt added three more runs on consecutive hits by Kim Hyun-soo, Jang Jin-hyuk, and Hilliard to seal the win.

Hilliard played the role of cleanup hitter perfectly, driving in four runs.

Hanwha's Park Jung-hyun hit a pinch-hit solo homer to center off his younger brother, kt closer Park Young-hyun, in the 9th inning, becoming the first player in history to hit a home run in a brother-versus-brother pitcher-batter matchup.

In Seoul, the Lotte Giants also secured a 5-2 victory over the Doosan Bears, scoring three runs in the top of the 10th inning after allowing a game-tying run in the bottom of the 9th.

Lotte took the lead in the 6th inning following an error by Doosan shortstop Park Chan-ho and consecutive hits by Ko Seung-min and Victor Reyes.

Doosan responded in the bottom of the 7th when leadoff hitter Kim Min-seok hit a double, and after a sacrifice bunt by pinch hitter Jo Su-haeng, Park Chan-ho delivered an RBI single to tie the game 1-1.

Lotte regained the lead in the top of the 8th on a solo homer by Ko Seung-min, but Doosan tied it again at 2-2 in the bottom of the 9th on a dramatic RBI single by Ahn Jae-seok.

After Shota Iimura prevented a walk-off loss in the 9th, the Lotte offense responded in the 10th inning.

With two outs and runners on first and second, backup catcher Park Jae-yeop hit a lucky two-run double that just cleared the infield, and he later scored on a double by Han Dong-hee to secure the win for Lotte.

In Gwangju, the SSG Landers and KIA Tigers played to a 6-6 draw after a 4-hour and 22-minute extra-inning battle.

Trailing 1-3 in the top of the 9th, SSG rallied against KIA closer Seong Young-tak, using a pinch-hit double to center by Jeon Eui-san and a crucial RBI single by Choi Jeong to tie the game 3-3.

SSG took a 4-3 lead in the top of the 10th with a double by Ko Myeong-jun and a triple by Choi Ji-hoon. KIA tied it again 4-4 in the bottom of the 10th on a sacrifice fly by Kim Do-young, but SSG escaped further damage by turning a double play against pinch hitter Kim Tae-gun with the bases loaded.

SSG took a 6-4 lead in the top of the 11th when Guillermo Heredia hit a two-run double to right with one out and runners on first and second. However, KIA tied the game 6-6 in the bottom of the 11th on an RBI single by Kim Kyu-sung and a throwing error to first base by SSG pitcher Kim Min.

KIA failed to capitalize again with the bases loaded, ending the game in a draw.

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