▲ LG's new foreign pitcher Yaxel Rios
The LG Twins, who are cruising in sole possession of first place, reached the 40-win milestone on a "bullpen day."
LG defeated the Lotte Giants 5-3 in a home game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium on Saturday, racking up nine hits in the 2026 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League.
With this victory, LG became the first team to reach 40 wins (40-24, .625 winning percentage), widening the gap with the second-place KT Wiz (38 wins, 25 draws, and 1 loss, .603 winning percentage) to 1.5 games and taking another step toward back-to-back combined championships.
Since 1989, when the single-season format began (excluding the two-league system from 1999 to 2000), teams that reached 40 wins first have had a 61.9% chance of winning the regular season (26 out of 42 times) and a 50.0% chance of winning the Korean Series (21 out of 42 times).
In the bottom of the first inning, LG took a 2-0 lead with runners on second and third with no outs—set up by hits and steals from Hong Chang-ki and Park Hae-min—on a sacrifice fly by Austin Dean and an infield groundout by Moon Bo-gyeong.
In the second inning, they added three more runs to lead 5-0, courtesy of a solo home run by Moon Jung-bin and RBI hits by Park Hae-min and Austin Dean.
The Giants got on the board in the top of the third when Victor Reyes hit a two-run home run over the center field wall.
In the top of the eighth, they added another run on an RBI hit by Ko Seung-min but failed to turn the game around.
LG's Kim Jin-su, making his first career start since his debut in 2021, pitched two scoreless innings. He was followed by Ham Deok-ju (1 inning), Kim Jin-sung (2 innings), Yaxel Rios (2 innings), Kim Young-woo (1/3 inning), and Son Ju-young (1 2/3 innings) to stave off Lotte's comeback attempt.
LG's new foreign pitcher Rios threw a fastball clocked at 160.8 km/h, recording the fastest pitch in the league this season.
Park Hae-min became the first player in KBO League history to record 20 stolen bases for 13 consecutive seasons.
In a high-scoring slugfest in Suwon, KT came from behind to defeat the NC Dinos 11-9.
KT took advantage of an NC error in the bottom of the first inning to score two runs.
In the second inning, Kim Hyun-soo hit a two-run single, and KT added another run in the bottom of the third to lead 5-0.
NC pulled back a run in the top of the fourth with a double by Park Min-woo and an RBI hit by Park Kun-woo, and added another run in the fifth on an RBI hit by Park Min-woo to trail 2-5. However, KT pulled away to 7-2 in the bottom of the fifth when Han Seung-taek hit a two-run double.
In the top of the eighth, NC batted around and exploded for seven runs, including a three-run home run by Kim Ju-won, to take a 9-7 lead.
However, KT tied the game at 9-9 in the bottom of the eighth with a solo home run by Kwon Dong-jin and a wild pitch, before Heo Kyoung-min hit a two-run double to reclaim the lead at 11-9.
In Daegu, the Samsung Lions overcame a six-run deficit to pull off a 7-6 comeback victory over the SSG Landers.
SSG opened the scoring in the top of the second inning with an RBI hit by Ahn Sang-hyun.
In the third, they added five runs with four consecutive hits with one out and bases loaded, taking a commanding 6-0 lead.
Samsung began its chase in the bottom of the fifth when Kim Sung-yoon hit a two-run double, and closed the gap to 5-6 in the bottom of the sixth with a three-run home run over the left field wall by Jeon Byeong-woo.
In the bottom of the seventh, Park Seung-gyu hit a two-run single amid an opponent's error to finally turn the game around.
SSG suffered a blow after having won six consecutive road games in Daegu.
In Gwangju, the KIA Tigers edged the Doosan Bears 2-1 to snap their three-game losing streak.
KIA scored first in the bottom of the fourth when Byeon Woo-hyeok hit a double to left-center, driving in Kim Do-young, who had drawn a walk.
In the fifth, after Kim Tae-gun reached base with a hit to left-center, a sacrifice bunt was followed by Kim Ho-ryeong's RBI single to left, making it 2-0.
Doosan could only manage one run in the top of the sixth when Park Chan-ho, who had doubled, came home on a sacrifice fly by Yang Eui-ji.
KIA starting pitcher James Naile earned the win, allowing one run on five hits while striking out six over six innings.
At Gocheok Sky Dome, the last-place Kiwoom Heroes secured a 3-1 comeback victory over the Hanwha Eagles, winning for the second consecutive day.
Hanwha took the lead in the top of the fifth when Yonathan Perlaza hit a double to right field following an infield hit by Lee Do-yun.
Kiwoom tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom half of the inning with a solo home run over the left field wall by Kim Geon-hee. In the seventh, Won Seong-jun drove in Choi Joo-hwan, who had doubled, with a single to right to take a 2-1 lead.
Hanwha's eight-game winning streak in Saturday games came to a halt.
(Photo courtesy of LG Twins, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.