On the day he received his first monthly MVP award… Noh Si-hwan homers in his first three-game hitting streak
26th home run of the season… extends lead in division
Hanwha, KT knocked out despite strong performances
Choi Jeong-soo… No. 450 in his career
The eighth game of the 2023 KBO League between professional baseball clubs Hanwha and KT took place at KT Wiz Park in Suwon on Monday. Before the game, we caught up with Hanwha’s Noh Si-hwan (pictured), who was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the month of July, in the dugout. Noh won the award after hitting .298 with six home runs (tied for first), 14 RBIs (tied for fifth) and a slugging percentage of .649 (tied for first) for a total of 37.24 points in the month of July. It is Noh’s first monthly MVP award and the first time in five years and three months that a Hanwha player has won the award since Jung Woo-ram in May 2018.
Noh was surprised to receive the award. “Hanwha fans have a longing for a home run hitter, and I think I fulfilled that longing a little bit,” he said, adding, “I want to hit a lot of home runs in August and try to win back-to-back monthly MVP awards.”
Noh’s desire to win the August MVP was evident in the game. Starting at third base as the No. 3 hitter, Noh stepped to the plate with two outs in the first inning and took a change-up from KT starter Uhm Sang-baek to left-centre field. It was his 24th home run of the season, two games after hitting one against the KIA Tigers on the 6th.
Noh’s home run arsenal was unstoppable. In the third inning, with Hanwha leading 2-1 and runners on first and second, he stepped to the plate for the second time and once again smashed the ball over the left-centre fence. It was Noh’s fifth career home run and his third in as many at-bats this season.
After a fly out to right field in his third at-bat of the fifth inning, he added another cannon in his fourth at-bat as the leadoff hitter in the eighth. Noh’s three home runs in one game was his first since his debut. With three on the day, he is on pace to win his second straight monthly MVP award, having already launched five home runs in August. He also consolidated his lead in the category with 26 home runs.
Noh’s three homerun blasts were not enough to stop KT, who are on a “crazy upswing” with a 9-1 record in their last 10 games. After scoring three runs in the fourth inning from a 1-5 deficit, KT scored six runs in the fifth inning with the bases loaded to take a 10-5 lead.바카라사이트
After adding two more runs in the seventh inning, KT won 12-6 and extended its winning streak to three games. With a season record of 51-2-44, KT moved up one spot to third place, ahead of NC (49-1-44), which lost 1-2 to SSG in Incheon earlier in the day. SSG’s Choi Jeong-jeong, who is second in home runs, also hit a solo shot on the day to overtake Noh Si-hwan with his 21st home run of the season and reach 450 for his career.
