Another first-place team. The NC Dinos have completed a series sweep against the SSG Landers.

NC won 8-4 against SSG on Nov. 11 at NC Park in Changwon. With the win, NC completed a sweep of the three-game series against SSG over the weekend, winning all three games and extending their winning streak to five games. They now have a chance to move into the top three. SSG, on the other hand, has lost three straight after winning three straight.

With SSG’s Kim Kwang-hyun and NC’s Taylor Widener starting the game, the two teams battled it out in a tightly contested match. SSG struck first in the first inning. With two outs and the bases loaded, third baseman Choi Jung hit a solo home run to left field off Widener. Choi took a four-pitch slider in the 2B1s for a leadoff solo shot. SSG took a 1-0 lead.

From there, it was a pitcher’s duel between the two teams, but they started to trade runs in the fourth inning. SSG capitalized on a fielding error in the top of the fourth inning. Leadoff hitter Guillermo Heredia reached on an error by the second baseman. In the next at-bat, Choi Joo-hwan singled, and Heredia advanced to third when the catcher’s throw to first got away from him.

With runners on first and third, Choi hit a grounder to the second baseman, allowing Heredia to score from third. SSG took a 2-0 lead.

After being held scoreless by Kim Kwang-hyun in the third inning, the NC bats started to explode in the fourth. In the bottom of the fourth, leadoff hitter Park Gun-woo hit a solo home run. J.D. Martin and Park Seok-min followed with back-to-back singles to rattle Kim Kwang-hyun. With runners on first and second, Yoon Hyung-jun reached on a sacrifice bunt. Hyeon-Hwan Jae hit a fly to center field, which allowed Martin to tag up and score from third to tie the game at 2-2.

NC rallied in the bottom of the fifth, pulling Kim Kwang-hyun off the mound. Leadoff hitter Kim Ju-won drew a walk. Seo Ho-cheol hit an outfield fly, but Kim Sung-wook broke the tie with a timely double to left-center field. NC’s offense was not done. With two outs and three runners on base, Martin added an RBI single to center field to give NC a 4-2 lead.

SSG tied the game again in the top of the sixth. With one out, Heredia drew a walk. Choi Joo-hwan’s infield single moved Heredia to second, and Ha Jae-hoon followed with a single to left to bring Heredia in. Ha stole second, and Lee Jung-beom followed with a single to center to bring the runner in scoring position around the bases. The score was tied at 4-4. This time, SSG got Widener to ground out.

The bats of both teams then went quiet again. SSG loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the eighth when Choi Joo-hwan singled, but was stranded.

Still tied 4-4. NC opened the bottom of the 8th with a leadoff single by Kim Sung-wook. Park Gun-woo followed with back-to-back singles to put runners on first and second. SSG had a big chance against Noh Kyung-eun.

With one out, Park Seok-min drew a full-count walk to load the bases. Do Tae-hoon hit a two-run double off Noh Kyung-eun to load the bases. NC regains the lead, 6-4. The game tilted further in NC’s favor. It wasn’t over yet. With runners on first and second and three outs, Jae-Hwan Lee hit two more RBI singles in the first inning to make it a four-run game, 8-4. After a quick comeback and a four-run lead, NC set the tone perfectly.

With a big lead, NC turned to the pitching of Kim Si-hoon in the top of the ninth inning. Kim retired the SSG bottom of the order of Lee Jung-bum, Kang Jin-sung, and Cho Hyung-woo in order to preserve the win 메이저놀이터.