The bottom-ranked Samsung Lions have boosted their hopes of breaking out of the bottom half of the standings by defeating the ninth-ranked Kiwoom Heroes for the second straight day.

Samsung won 10-6 at Gocheok Sky Dome 토토 on Tuesday against Kiwoom in the Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League of the 2023 Baseball World Series.

With the win, Samsung wrapped up a three-game weekend series with Kiwoom with two wins and a tie. Last-place Samsung, with 36 wins, one draw and 52 points, closed the gap on ninth-place Kiwoom (41 wins, three draws and 51 points) to three games.

The game was decided early in the first inning. Kiwoom starting pitcher Jang Jae-young’s struggles with his pitches came back to haunt him today. After failing to complete the first inning and giving up six pitches, he left the game with a headshot.

The record for most pitches in an inning is seven, set by former Doosan Bears pitcher Ariel Miranda in the first inning against the Kia Tigers last year. Jang Jae-young didn’t make it through the first inning, but he became the second pitcher in history to give up the most runs in a single inning.

After scoring six runs in the top of the first inning amid Jang’s struggles, Samsung added three more in the top of the second on a triple to right-center by Kang Kang-ul, an RBI single to right by Ryu Ji-hyuk, and an error by the Kiwoom shortstop to take a 9-0 lead.

Kiwoom got two runs back in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single by Song Sung-moon and an RBI triple to left by “transfer student” Lee Ju-hyung, and then added four runs in the bottom of the seventh off Samsung bullpen Kim Tae-hoon, but it wasn’t enough to put the game away.

Samsung’s veteran left-hander Baek Jung-hyun went 5⅔ innings, allowing two runs on seven hits with one walk and two strikeouts to earn his fifth win of the season.