“We stayed focused and didn’t miss our opponent’s mistakes.”
KT Wiz won 8-4 against the KIA Tigers in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League on April 22 at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, South Korea. With their third straight win, KT is in second place with 59 wins, two ties and 46 losses, while KIA is in sixth place with 48 wins, two ties and 50 losses.
KT took the lead in the first inning. After Kim Sang-soo led off with a single, Anthony Alford and Jang Jang-woo were walked. With the bases loaded, Moon Sang-chul and Hwang Jae-gyun hit RBI singles.
KIA fought back. In the top of the second inning, Choi Hyung-woo hit a one-run home run to narrow the gap. Na Sung-bum was hit by a pitch, Choi walked, and Socrates Brito singled to load the bases. After Lee Woo-sung grounded out to second base, Kim Sun-bin hit a two-run double to center field. Kim advanced to second on an error by Kim Min-hyuk in left field.
Kim Tae-gun followed with a single. Socrates scored. Kim rounded third base and sprinted home. However, right fielder Ahn Chi-young made an accurate throw home to catch Kim.
After not scoring another run, KT turned the tide in the bottom of the sixth. They took advantage of two critical errors by KIA. With the bases loaded, Choi Jae-dae’s sacrifice fly scored a run and Kim Min-hyuk’s RBI single tied the game. Then, with runners on first and second, Kim Tae-gun threw to third to catch Lee Ho-yeon, but an error allowed Lee to come home. Substitute Park Byung-ho then singled, but first baseman Choi Won-joon made a throwing error. Second baseman Kim Min-hyuk also scored. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Kim Sang-soo drove in the winning run with a two-run double.
On the mound, Pil Seung-jo was brought in after starter Uhm Sang-baek was sent down. Son Dong-hyun pitched 1 1/3 innings without allowing an earned run, walking one and striking out one to improve to 5-4 on the season. Park Young-hyun struck out the side in order in the eighth to record his 26th strikeout, and Kim Jae-yoon, who came on in the bottom of the ninth, started the inning with a single to Kim Sun-bin but did not allow a hit to end the game.
After the game, Lee Kang-cheol said, “We gave up a goal to our starting pitcher, Uhm Sang-baek, but he did his part by leading us to the game. Son Dong-hyun, Park Young-hyun, and Kim 카지노 Jae-yoon also did a good job in defense.”
“Ahn Chi-young’s Lake Rain played a crucial role in not giving up the momentum. After that, we were able to make a comeback by focusing on the opponent’s mistakes. Kim Sang-soo’s extra-base hit sealed the win.”
“I would like to thank the players for their hard work and the fans for coming to the stadium in bad weather to support us,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, Alford felt pain in his left toe (3rd and 4th) after being hit by a sand dune in the bottom of the first inning and immediately left the game to have it checked out. Fortunately, it was not a serious injury. A KT representative said, “Alford was examined and found to have a simple bruise. He is in pain, but we will monitor his condition.”