Kia’s Choi Hyung-woo, who is regressing in age, scored 6 more runs… No. 1 in RBIs + over 1,600 RBIs (Yesterday’s professional baseball) | Dong-A Ilbo

Kia veteran Choi Hyung-woo (40), who is regressing in age, continued to hit 6 hits in one game in two days and exceeded 1,600 RBIs in his career.

Choi Hyung-woo played as the designated hitter No. 4 in the away game against KT at KT Wiz Park in Suwon on the 14th, and hit a big hit with 4 hits and 6 RBIs in 5 at-bats including a home run. With Choi Hyung-woo’s hot bat as a stepping stone, KIA defeated KT 11-1 and maintained the lead.

As of the day before, Choi Hyung-woo had hit 1,598 RBIs in his career. In the top of the first inning, with two outs and one base on, he hit a beautiful two-run home run against KT starter William Cuevas against the right wall. First base. Choi Hyung-woo, who currently ranks first in career RBIs, added two more RBIs with this home run, becoming the first player in the KBO league to reach 1,600 RBIs.

Choi Hyung-woo’s bat never stopped. In the top of the second inning, Choi Hyung-woo returned to the plate with a 4-0 lead and hit a sweeping double to right center against Cuevas. Choi Hyung-woo hit a timely ball to the left in the top of the third inning and scored 1 run, bringing his total to 6 runs that day. Two days ago, on the 12th, in the SSG game, Choi Hyung-woo also had 3 hits and 6 RBIs in 6 at-bats. Choi Hyung-woo, who recorded his 62nd RBI, surpassed KT’s Kang Baek-ho (59) and rose to the top of the RBI category.

KIA’s new foreign pitcher Cam Aldred won his first KBO League game with 7 strikeouts in the 5th inning, tying KT’s lineup with 5 hits, 1 walk, and no runs allowed. Aldred’s debut in Korea against Doosan on the 8th was not good, giving up 6 runs in 3 innings, but won his first win in two games. After the game, KIA head coach Lee Beom-ho praised the team, “We were able to win thanks to Aldred’s excellent pitching and Choi Hyung-woo’s six RBI performance,” and “Choi Hyung-woo showed excellent performance in every game.” He hit the ball, including a two-run home run in the top of the first inning. KT starter Cuevas gave up 8 runs on 6 hits in 2 innings and reached base 7 times.

Samsung hit a home run in the away game against Changwon and defeated NC 7-4, winning five straight games. Samsung lost the first run in the bottom of the first inning due to Matt Davidson’s two-run home run, but scored one run in the second inning with Jeon Byung-woo’s sacrifice fly, and scored another run in the top of the fourth inning. In the second inning, Yoon Jung-bin hit his first home run in seven years to tie the score at 2-2. Samsung, which was trailing by one run in the bottom of the fourth inning due to NC Kwon Hee-dong’s solo home run, turned the game around again with Lee Jae-hyun’s two-run home run to the left wing in the top of the fifth inning. In the sixth inning, NC Son Ya-seop hit a single home run to tie the score again, but in the seventh inning, Koo Ja-wook’s comeback double took the lead again. Koo Ja-wook hit a double with two RBIs in the top of the ninth inning to tie the score.

In Jamsil, LG defeated Lotte 5-3, breaking its recent 4-game losing streak. LG lost 2 runs in the top of the 1st inning, but in the bottom of the 2nd inning, Park Hae-min turned the game around with a triple to right center with the bases loaded and out, leading 4-2 with a timely hit by Shin Min-jae. In the bottom of the 8th inning, with the team trailing 3-4, Moon Bo-kyung’s single hit broke the opponent’s will to chase. LG starter Detrick Enns won his 8th win of the season (2 losses) with 5 hits and 3 runs in 6 innings, ranking only in the number of wins.

In the game against Kiwoom held at Gocheok Sky Dome, Doosan won 6-4 thanks to the final home run by foreign batter Henry Ramos.

Kia, which was in the lead, LG, Samsung and Doosan all won on the day, and the top four teams continued their cold battle for the ranking with only one game left. In Daejeon, SSG defeated Hanwha 11-4 with 15 long and short hits. Choo Shin-soo, who served as the third batter of SSG, hit a solo home run that hit the left-center wall in the first inning, leading the offense with 3 hits and 3 RBIs in 3 at-bats.

Meanwhile, the Jamsil-Daejeon game drew 10,000 spectators, and the KBO league sold out 100 of its 340 games.

Reporter Lee Heon-jae uni@donga.com