The NC Dinos did something Tuesday that no other team in South Korean baseball had done before in 2023: scoring twice off Kiwoom Heroes ace An Woo-jin in the first inning.

And they still lost the game.

The Heroes rallied from that early 2-0 deficit for an 8-4 win at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, handing the Dinos their fourth straight loss.

An, one of the top starters in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) this year, had allowed just one run in the opening frames of his 15 previous starts combined.

An's teammates bailed him out in this one, with the lineup piecing together 10 hits and the bullpen shutting things down for the final three innings.

An improved to 6-4 for the season after allowing four runs on a season-high nine hits.

His ERA went up from 2.00 to a season-worst 2.24, but he struck out six to pad his league-leading total to 119 in 100 2/3 innings.

The right-hander has now been charged with nine earned runs in his past 11 1/3 innings.

With runners at the corners in the top first, cleanup Kwon Hui-dong knocked in the game's first run with a sacrifice fly to shallow center. Jason Martin followed that up with a double to cash in another run for a 2-0 lead, though Martin was thrown out at third trying to stretch it to a triple.

The Heroes got a run back with Kim Ju-hyung's two-out RBI single in the second inning, though they wasted a bases-loaded opportunity later in the frame.

The Dinos had a chance to tack on a run in the top third, when their first two batters hit singles. But Park Min-woo flied out to left field and Kwon Hui-dong's hard line drive went right at third baseman Song Sung-mun, who doubled up the lead runner at second to kill the rally.

The Heroes loaded the bases again in the bottom third and capitalized on that second chance.

First, Kim Ju-hyung drew a walk against new pitcher Ha Jun-young to tie the score at 2-2. Then Kim Jun-wan dumped a single to shallow left-center field, just out of shortstop Kim Ju-won's reach, to plate two more runs for a 4-2 Heroes lead.

The Dinos responded with a run in the top fourth, though they could have had much more.

Cheon Jae-hwan's one-out double cut the deficit to 4-3. A walk and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases for the top of the order, but Son Ah-seop only managed a soft grounder back to An, who threw home to get the force at the plate, and Seo Ho-cheol struck out swinging.

The Heroes made the Dinos pay for the missed opportunity, as they stretched their lead in the bottom fifth.

Kim Hye-seong hit a towering double to deep left-center field for a 5-3 lead. Then Lee Jung-hoo hit a scorcher up the middle that went off the glove of second baseman Park Min-woo, as Kim sprinted home to put the Heroes up 6-3.

The Dinos squeaked out a run after putting the first two batters aboard in the top sixth, but stranded the bases loaded in the top seventh when Cheon Jae-hwan struck out swinging against reliever Kim Jae-woong.

The Dinos wasted a leadoff double by Park Sei-hyok in the eighth, as reliever Won Jong-hyan struck out two of the next three batters to escape the frame unscathed.

The Heroes then put the game out of reach in the bottom eighth, thanks to pinch hitter Kim Su-hwan's two-run double.

Heroes relievers Kim Jae-woong, Won Jong-hyan and Yang Hyun walked the tightrope but held the Dinos off the board over the final three innings.

Kim Jun-wan and Kim Hye-seong went 4-for-7 with three RBIs and two runs scored from the top of the Heroes lineup. No. 8 hitter Lee Ji-young went 2-for-3 and scored three times.

The Dinos had a runner in scoring position in every inning but the fifth.

Source: Yonhap News Agency