KT Wiz’s fearsome focus swept aside ‘nemesis’ KIA to continue winning streak and solidify second place.
KT won the first game of a three-game midweek series against KIA in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Katie Wiz Park in Suwon on April 22, 8-4, thanks to strong pitching from the bullpen and a focused batting performance in the middle and late innings.
The win pushed KT’s record to 59-2-46, including a two-game sweep of Hanwha over the weekend, and opened up a 1.5-game gap over third-place SSG (56-1-46), which did not play due to rain, and a 6.5-game lead over first-place LG. In particular, the first midweek win against KIA, which had previously been 1-6, set the stage for an 11th consecutive winning series.
KT got off to a flying start, scoring two runs in the top of the first inning after starting pitcher Uhm Sang-baek struck out the side in order. One inning later, Kim Sang-soo led off with a single to the right side of the infield, and Alford and Jang Jang-woo followed with back-to-back singles to load the bases. With the bases loaded, Moon Sang-chul singled to left and Hwang Jae-gyun followed with a single to right field to make it 2-0.
However, Uhm Sang-baek gave up a leadoff home run to Choi Hyung-woo in the top of the second and gave up back-to-back singles to Kim Sun-bin and Kim Tae-gun two batters later, but struck out Kim Do-young to end the threat.
Tied at one in the top of the sixth, KT walked Na Sung-beom to start the inning and then gave up a single to Choi Hyung-woo and a double to Socrates to load the bases. The next batter, Lee Woo-seong, struck out the side to give himself some breathing room, but gave up a double to left field to Kim Sun-bin and a single to right field to Kim Tae-gun to make it 2-4.
Fortunately, KT came back in the bottom of the sixth inning when Ahn Chi-young made a great catch in right field to prevent further damage. Hwang Jae-gyun singled up the middle and Oh Yoon-seok walked to put runners on first and second with nobody out and a fielder’s choice by pinch-hitter Lee Ho-yeon.
After a sacrifice fly to right field by Choi Jae-dae tied the game at 4-4, Kim Min-hyuk’s single to left and a throwing error by the catcher on a double steal tied the game at 4-4, and the KIA first 메이저사이트 baseman missed a grounder by Park Byung-ho to score another run to make it 6-4.
With the game in hand, KT added two runs in the bottom of the eighth. After Lee Ho-yeon led off with a single to left, a grounder in front of the second baseman and a walk to Kim Min-hyuk put runners on first and second. Kim Sang-soo followed with a timely double down the right field line to score two more runs.
After Uhm Sang-baek in the fifth, Son Dong-hyun (1⅓ innings), Park Young-hyun in the eighth, and Kim Jae-yoon in the ninth secured the win for KT with two scoreless innings of relief.