Samsung, a hot team in the second half of the season, continues its recent upswing with a victory over leader LG, and the reason for the team changes along the way.

Sitting at the bottom of the league standings, the Samsung Lions will attempt to complete a three-game weekend sweep of LG Twins, the league’s only six-figure winning team, after putting the brakes on their seven-game winning streak with two straight victories.

In the second game of a three-game weekend series against the LG Twins at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on Friday evening, Samsung clinched the ‘sweep’ with a 6-3 victory behind evenly matched performances from both bats.

Samsung got a complete game pitching performance from starter Baek Jeong-hyun, who pitched six innings of three-run ball to secure his sixth win of the season, followed by Woo Kyu-min and Lee Jae-ik, who both recorded holds, and Oh Seung-hwan, who closed out the game to earn his 15th save of the season.

At the plate, four players had two-hit games, starting with Lee Jae-hyun, who had a multi-hit game, including the game-winning home run, while transfer Ryu Ji-hyuk had a three-hit game and a two-RBI performance, another part of the team’s recent surge.

Still in last place, but now a game clear of ninth-place Kiwoom, Samsung has won eight games, drawn one and lost five, with a winning percentage of over 6 percent, the strongest of the bottom four teams, thanks to a stronger batting lineup in the second half of the season.

Even in their two-game sweep of LG, Samsung’s success has been fueled not by a specific player but by an even mix of hitters across positions and age groups, with Koo Ja-rook’s return from injury, transfer Ryu Ji-hyuk’s adjustment, and new No. 1 Kim Hyun-jun’s steady performance fueling the team’s rise.

On the mound, where the team changed pitching coaches, the bullpen has regained some stability, starting with Oh Seung-hwan, who recorded back-to-back saves, and added to his hold record, which reads as a sign that Samsung’s problems have been addressed to some extent.

Add to that the heat at Lapak, which has consistently drawn more than 10,000 fans per game despite the heatwave and sluggish standings, and the support from fans, which has increased compared to the past, even on the road, and you have a reason to believe that bottom-of-the-table Samsung can’t give up on the league just yet.스포츠토토

With the exception of a win against KT at the start of the second half of the season and the first three-game series in August against KIA, Samsung will be looking to complete a series sweep not seen since their victory over KT in late April, with Suarez spearheading the challenge for a third straight win and a tiebreaker, while LG, who have lost back-to-back games, will look to Im Chan-gyu to turn things around.