Austin Dean hits for cycle, Hong Chang-ki walks it off as LG wins in 10th

The LG Twins pulled off a dramatic win over the NC Dinos on Tuesday as first baseman Austin Dean hit for the cycle and outfielder Hong Chang-ki brought home a walk-off winner in extra innings.

LG beat NC 5-4 in 10 innings at Jamsil Baseball Stadium, Songpa District, in southern Seoul. LG extended their winning streak to three games and remained in third place, while NC suffered its third consecutive loss.

NC starter Curtis Taylor shut down an LG lineup that had been on a hot streak. He tossed six scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and two walks, and struck out five while leaning heavily on a sharp-breaking slider rather than his fastball.

NC opened the scoring in the top of the second. After outfielder Park Kun-woo reached on an infield single and outfielder Lee Woo-sung followed with another hit to put runners on first and third with one out, catcher An Joong-yeol drove in Park with a sacrifice fly to right.

The Dinos added another run in the third on outfielder Choi Jeong-won's double and an RBI single by infielder Blaine Crim.

LG starter Anders Tolhurst turned in a quality start, allowing two runs on five hits and two free passes while striking out two over six innings. Tolhurst, now 11-9, missed a chance to earn his 12th win of the season and retain a share of the league lead in victories.

He was spared the loss when LG rallied in the bottom of the eighth. After infielder Shin Min-jae drew a walk and outfielder Park Hae-min singled with two outs, Dean launched a go-ahead three-run homer over the left field wall.

It was Dean's 33rd home run of the season and his first since an Aug. 13 game against the Kiwoom Heroes. The blast cut the gap between Dean and KIA Tigers infielder Kim Do-yeong, the league leader with 38 homers, to five.

NC created one last chance in the top of the ninth when catcher An and outfielder Cheon Jae-hwan opened the inning with back-to-back singles. With the runners in motion, infielder Kim Ju-won grounded to shortstop. That left runners on second and third with one out.

Outfielder Kwon Hui-dong then drew a walk, and pinch hitter Kim Hyung-jun was hit by a pitch to tie the game 3-3. It marked LG closer Son Ju-young's second blown save of the season.

NC failed to take the lead, however, as infielder Seo Ho-cheol grounded into a 4-6-3 double play.

The Dinos finally moved back in front in the top of the 10th. Park Kun-woo led off with a double and advanced to third on infielder Kim Whee-jip's groundout to shortstop. LG intentionally walked Lee to face Shin Jae-in.

Shin hit a hard comebacker toward pitcher John Kennedy. The ball deflected off Kennedy's glove and turned into an infield single, putting NC ahead 4-3.

But LG still had Dean.

Leading off the bottom of the 10th, Dean worked the count full before driving Chun Sa-min's sixth pitch, a two-seam fastball, off the center-field wall for a triple.

Dean had already doubled, singled and homered in his previous three at-bats. The triple completed the cycle — the first of the 2026 KBO season and the 33rd in league history. Dean became the fourth LG hitter to accomplish the feat, following Seo Yong-bin, An Chi-yong and Lee Byung-kyu.

Infielder Song Chan-eui followed with a double down the left field line to tie the game 4-4. A wild pitch by Chun followed before two consecutive intentional walks loaded the bases.

Infielder Gu Bon-hyeok then hit a shallow fly ball to center and catcher Park Dong-won fouled out to the catcher. That brought Hong to the plate with two outs.

Hong delivered the game-winning single to complete the comeback.

“I didn't think it would get to my at-bat and I even thought, ‘Is this kind of ordeal really coming my way?’, but I tried to stay focused,” Hong said. “Jeon has good stuff, but I thought he'd come in to get ahead in the count, so even if I swung and missed, I wanted to make contact out in front. I think it was the best ball I've hit all season.”

Elsewhere, the Doosan Bears beat the KT Wiz 3-1 in Suwon, Gyeonggi, on Tuesday for their second straight win there.

Doosan starter Choi Min-seok allowed one run on six hits over six innings to improve to 12-3. He moved into sole possession of the league lead in wins.

Trailing 1-0, the Bears tied the game on outfielder Jung Soo-bin's solo home run in the fifth before catcher Yang Eui-ji put them ahead with another solo shot in the sixth. Pitchers Kim Taek-yeon, Takuto Takada and Lee Young-ha each threw a scoreless inning to close out the victory.

Two days after losing to the Kiwoom Heroes on catcher Kim Jae-hyun's walk-off grand slam on Sunday, the KIA Tigers returned the favor with a walk-off grand slam of their own.

KIA beat the Lotte Giants 8-5 in Gwangju. Trailing 5-4 with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, pinch hitter Lee Ho-yeon drove a pitch from Lotte closer Kim Won-jung over the right field wall.

It was Lee's first home run of the season and the first grand slam of his career.

In Daejeon, the SSG Landers beat the Hanwha Eagles 7-1. With the score tied 1-1, outfielder Choi Ji-hoon delivered the go-ahead hit with runners on first and second and nobody out in the sixth. SSG scored six runs in the inning to pull away.

Starter Kim Min-jun allowed one run on four hits and two walks over five innings. He struck out six.

The Samsung Lions and Kiwoom Heroes played to a 3-3 tie at Gocheok Sky Dome, Guro District, western Seoul.

BY KIM HYO-KYOUNG [[email protected]]