Lions tied for first place in KBO standings after pounding Wiz with 20-hit game
Published: 20 May. 2026, 16:21
Updated: 20 May. 2026, 16:44
Samsung Lions manager Park Jin-man, second from right, celebrates with Lee Jae-hyun, right, after Samsung’s 9-5 victory over the LG Twins in a KBO game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul’s Songpa District on May 14. [NEWS1]
The Samsung Lions powered back into a tie for first place in the KBO standings after defeating the KT Wiz on Tuesday in Pohang, their second home turf.
The Lions crushed the Wiz 10-2 at Pohang Baseball Stadium in North Gyeongsang, collecting 20 hits. The total matched the highest single-game hit tally by a team this season. Choi Hyoung-woo, Kang Min-ho and Ryu Ji-hyuk each recorded three hits, while four other Samsung batters posted multihit games.
Samsung, which had entered the game in third place behind KT and the LG Twins, improved to 25-17-1 and moved back into a tie for first with KT.
Samsung’s local ace Won Tae-in earned his second win of the season after three losses, allowing one run on five hits and two walks while striking out six over six innings. KT starter Caleb Boushley struggled, giving up four runs, three earned, on 10 hits over four and two-thirds innings to fall to 5-3.
Veteran slugger Choi Hyoung-woo gave Samsung an early spark with a go-ahead RBI single to right in the third inning with one out and runners on first and third in a scoreless game. Lewin Diaz followed with an RBI single to center to make it 2-0.
Samsung added another run in the fourth inning on an infield error before back-to-back doubles by Jeon Byeong-woo and Kang Min-ho extended the lead to 4-0 in the fifth.
Samsung Lions' Won Tae-in, left, smiles with teammate Choi Hyoung-woo, right, during a KBO game against the Doosan Bears at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul’s Songpa District on April 28. [NEWS1]
KT cut the deficit to 4-1 in the sixth, but Samsung effectively sealed the game in the seventh by scoring six runs on six hits, including a triple by Koo Ja-wook.
Elsewhere, the KIA Tigers routed the LG Twins 14-0 in Gwangju to hold onto fifth place. Six of KIA’s 14 hits were home runs, with Kim Ho-ryung accounting for three of them, including back-to-back homers in the seventh and eighth innings. It marked the first three-homer game of Kim’s career.
LG starter Anders Tolhurst endured a nightmare outing, with the pitcher being ejected under the league’s headshot rule for hitting No. 3 hitter Kim Do-yeong in the head with a fastball in the first inning. Tolhurst threw only 10 pitches before exiting, and LG’s pitching staff unraveled afterward as the team slipped from second to third place.
The Doosan Bears defeated the NC Dinos 9-3 at the Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Songpa District, southern Seoul, for their third straight victory. Starter Choi Min-seok pitched seven innings with seven strikeouts and one unearned run allowed, while Park Chan-ho drove in three runs with two hits.
In Gocheok in Guro District, eastern Seoul,
the Kiwoom Heroes edged the SSG Landers 7-6 on a walk-off home run by Kim Woong-bin in the bottom of the ninth inning. The homer was Kim’s fourth of the season and the first walk-off shot of the infielder’s career.
The Lotte Giants rallied for a 6-4 win over the Hanwha Eagles in Daejeon. Jang Du-seong delivered the go-ahead RBI in the eighth inning and later added an insurance run.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY BAE YOUNG-EUN [
[email protected]
]
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