Samsung Lions Dominate Kiwoom Heroes Behind Choi Hyung-woo’s Early Onslaught
The Samsung Lions came to Gocheok Sky Dome on Tuesday night and put on a display of offensive firepower that left the Kiwoom Heroes reeling. Final score: Samsung 12, Kiwoom 2. It wasn’t much of a contest past the opening inning, where the Lions scored five runs before the Heroes could record an out. By the time the dust settled, Samsung had handed Kiwoom one of the season’s more lopsided defeats.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samsung Lions | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 12 | 1 |
| Kiwoom Heroes | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 3 |
What started as a pitching matchup between Choi Won-tae and Park Jun-hyun quickly became a nightmare for the visitors. The Lions’ lineup was sharp, disciplined, and ruthless. Choi Hyung-woo set the tone early with a grand slam in the first inning off Park Jun-hyun, who never recovered from that opening salvo. The damage had been done before Park could settle into a rhythm, and he’d be pulled after just two innings of work, having surrendered five runs on four hits and five walks.
Samsung’s pitching, meanwhile, was suffocating. Choi Won-tae worked six innings for the win, scattering five hits while striking out six. He didn’t issue a single walk. The supporting cast—Yang Chang-seop, Satoshi, and Bae Chan-seung—kept the Heroes’ bats quiet in the final three innings, combining for a shutout appearance. The Heroes’ relief corps couldn’t escape the hole their starter had dug, and by the time the game reached the later innings, it was purely academic.
| Pitcher | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samsung Lions | ||||||
| Choi Won-tae [W] | 6 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| Yang Chang-seop | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Satoshi | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bae Chan-seung | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Kiwoom Heroes | ||||||
| Park Jun-hyun [L] | 2 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 1 |
| Jung Hyun-woo | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Lee Gang-jun | 1 ⅓ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Park Jin-hyung | 1 ⅔ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Jung Da-hun | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
The Lions’ hitting was spread across the lineup, though Choi Hyung-woo dominated the highlights. Beyond his four-run homer in the first, he added another hit and finished 2-for-5 with four RBIs. Kim Young-woong provided additional pop with a solo home run in the fifth inning off Jung Hyun-woo, extending an already comfortable lead to 10-0. Those two blasts, while separated by innings, set the tone for a dominant performance that never really wavered.
Kim Seong-yun chipped in with two hits and two RBIs. Park Seung-gyou went 2-for-5 at the top of the order. Even the role players contributed—Kim Ji-chan, pinch-hitting in limited at-bats, recorded a hit and drove in a run. That kind of depth in production is difficult to overcome.
The Heroes’ offense managed just two runs, both driven in by Kim Gun-hee. A second-inning double put him in position to score, and later he brought home another run to account for the team’s only RBIs on the night. Seo Geon-chang and Hiura each went 2-for-4, showing they could make contact, but it hardly mattered when they were spotted a 5-0 deficit before recording an out in the game.
| Batter | AB | H | R | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samsung Lions | |||||
| Park Seung-gyu | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kim Sung-yun | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Choi Hyung-woo | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Kim Ji-chan | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Kim Young-woong | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Park Se-hyuk | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Kiwoom Heroes | |||||
| Seo Geon-chang | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hiura | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kim Geon-hui | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
The pivotal moment came in the first inning with the bases loaded and no outs. Choi Hyung-woo stepped in against Park Jun-hyun and launched a fastball into the upper deck for his sixteenth home run of the season. That single swing shifted the entire complexion of the game. Park’s wildness—five walks in two innings—suggested he was never going to settle down, and Samsung never let him off the hook.
The Lions added four more runs in the fifth inning to put the game completely out of reach. By that point, the outcome had been decided for hours. What could have been a competitive matchup between a contender and a struggling team became a rout.
Samsung’s victory keeps them firmly in second place with a 66-44 record, just chasing the pace-setter in the KBO standings. The Lions have positioned themselves well for a postseason run with performances like this one. For Kiwoom, now sitting in tenth place at 42-73, the long road back to competitiveness continues. They’ll need to find answers, particularly on the pitching side, before their next outing.
The two teams will meet again tomorrow, but after a shellacking like this, the Heroes will need to regroup mentally and find their footing quickly. Samsung has momentum, balance, and execution. Kiwoom has their work cut out for them.