Lee Beom-ho's KIA, 1st Place in First Half of the Season

Lee Beom-ho's KIA, 1st Place in First Half of the Season for the First Time in 7 Years... NC Davidson, 12th Inning Walk-Off Home Run

'Im Chan-gyu's good pitch' LG takes revenge on Kiwoom... Doosan beats Lotte and jumps to 3rd place.

Hanwha beats KT and escapes 3-game losing streak... KBO League first half surpasses 6 million.

As the KBO League, which is causing a box office storm, surpassed 6 million spectators for the first time in the first half of the season, the KIA Tigers, led by manager Lee Beom-ho, finished the first half of the season in first place for the first time in 7 years.

KIA showed fierce concentration by scoring 5 runs in the top of the 9th inning in the away game against the Samsung Lions held at Daegu Samsung Lions Park on the 4th, and won 8-3.

KIA, which achieved a comeback against Samsung for three consecutive days, has a record of 48 wins, 33 losses, 2 draws, and a winning percentage of 0.593, taking first place in the first half of the season for the first time in seven years since 2017.

Since 1989, when the KBO League was held as a single league, excluding 1999 and 2000, when two leagues were held, the team that took first place in the first half of the season until last year has won the Korean Series 21 out of 35 times, recording a 60% chance of winning. 안전놀이터

KIA (including its predecessor Haitai) has taken first place in the first half of the season a total of six times (1989, 1991, 1993, 2002, 2011, 2017) and has taken the championship trophy four times, excluding 2002 and 2011.

It was another game where KIA showed their stamina.

Samsung took the lead when Kim Ji-chan hit an infield hit in the bottom of the first and stole second base, then scored on a ground ball.

KIA tied it 1-1 in the top of the second when Choi Hyeong-woo hit a solo arch over the right field.

Samsung took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the third inning with back-to-back home runs by Kim Heon-gon and Koo Ja-wook.

KIA recovered one point with Kim Tae-gun's right-field hit in the top of the fourth.

In the eighth inning, they added another point with Choi Hyeong-woo's double to tie the score at 3-3.

With momentum, KIA's batting line exploded in the top of the 9th against Samsung's closer Oh Seung-hwan.

After two outs, Kim Sun-bin hit a double, and Kim Do-young got on base on an intentional walk, and Park Jeong-woo hit a two-run double over the right fielder to turn the score around to 5-3.

In the continued attack, KIA added one point on Hong Jong-pyo's timely hit, and Socrates Brito hit a two-run homer over the right-center wall to make it 8-3, tying the game.

KIA's third pitcher, Dong-ha Hwang, pitched 3⅔ innings without allowing any hits or runs and became the winning pitcher.

Oh Seung-hwan, who is ranked first in relief, suffered the loss after allowing five runs on five hits in ⅔ innings, and Samsung lost its fifth straight game.

At Gocheok Dome, LG Twins defeated Kiwoom Heroes 3-2 with Im Chan-gyu's excellent pitching.

LG, which escaped a two-game losing streak, has turned the corner to second place behind KIA.

In the top of the first inning, Hong Chang-gi hit a right-field single, Shin Min-jae hit a left-field double, and Kim Hyun-soo and Austin Dean hit sacrifice flies with runners on second and third, giving LG a 2-0 lead.

Kiwoom recovered one point in the bottom of the third inning when Jang Jae-young brought in Kim Geon-hee, who hit a double over the center field wall, for a center-field hit.

LG ran away with a 3-1 lead in the top of the fourth inning when Park Dong-won hit a left-field single and scored on a walk and a subsequent grounder.

Kiwoom scored one point in the bottom of the eighth inning with one out and bases loaded on Choi Joo-hwan's infield grounder, but failed to turn things around.

LG starting pitcher Im Chan-gyu pitched six innings, allowing four hits and one run, earning his fifth win (three losses) of the season.

Kiwoom, in last place, had its six-game winning streak come to an end.

In Changwon, where a fierce battle of 12 innings was fought, the NC Dinos defeated the SSG Landers 2-0 thanks to Matt Davidson's walk-off two-run home run.

It was a game where SSG starting pitcher Kwang-hyun Kim and NC's Kyle Hart had a great pitching duel until the 7th inning.

Kwang-hyun Kim pitched his best game of the season, striking out 7 batters in 7 innings, allowing 2 hits and no runs, including 19 consecutive groundouts.

NC Hart also shut down the SSG batting lineup with 3 hits and no runs, striking out 7 batters until the 7th inning.

With both teams going down empty-handed, the game was decided in the 12th inning.

NC's leadoff hitter Park Geon-woo reached base on an error by SSG second baseman Park Ji-hwan.

Davidson then came up to bat and hit a powerful 2-run home run that went over the left field fence, putting an end to the long game.

Davidson, who recorded his 26th home run of the season, took the sole lead.

In Jamsil, Doosan Bears beat Lotte Giants 6-3 and moved up to 3rd place.

Yang Eui-ji and Yang Seok-hwan, who had hit grand slams the day before, took the lead early on by hitting home runs for two consecutive days.

Doosan took the lead in the bottom of the 4th when Yang Eui-ji hit a left-field two-run home run.

In the 5th, they added a run with Yang Seok-hwan's solo home run and Heo Gyeong-min's push-out walk, leading 4-0.

Doosan added a run each in the 6th and 8th innings to take a 6-0 lead.

Lotte only managed to recover 3 runs in the last attack in the top of the 9th.

In Daejeon, Hanwha Eagles defeated KT Wiz 13-5 to snap a three-game losing streak.

KT scored 4 runs with 4 hits including Jung Joon-young's double in the top of the third inning when the score was 1-1, and took a 5-1 lead.

Hanwha recovered 2 runs in the bottom of the third with Jonathan Peraza's double and Ahn Chi-hong's RBI single.

In the fourth inning, while the KT infielders committed two errors, they scored 5 runs with Hwang Young-mook and Jang Jin-hyeok's RBI singles and Noh Si-hwan's double, leading the team to a comeback 8-5.

In the sixth inning, Hanwha added 2 runs with Ahn Chi-hong's RBI single, and added 3 more runs in the seventh inning to seal the win.

On this day, 64,201 people entered 5 professional baseball stadiums across the country, recording a total attendance of 6,057,323, the lowest in 418 games.

It is also the first time in 43 years since its launch that the KBO League has surpassed 6 million spectators in the first half.

The 2024 KBO League, which finished the first half, will hold the All-Star Game at Incheon SSG Landers Field on the 6th and then enter the second half race on the 9th.