He gave away a whopping eight points, but won with 12 points. And all 12 points came after the top of the eighth inning. KT, which has shown incredible endurance, is now aiming to leap to the fifth place, the lowest point in autumn baseball.
KT Wiz of professional baseball won 12-8 in Game 10 of the season against Kiwoom Heroes of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on the 18th.
KT’s trusted ace Ko Young-pyo allowed five runs until the second inning, completely losing his early lead. After hitting successive timely hits by Song Sung-moon and Kim Hye-sung with runners on the first and third bases with no outs in the bottom of the first inning, he sent Won Sung-joon on a walk, and allowed a series of sacrifice fly to center field again in the bottom of the second inning with runners on the first and second bases with no outs.
The batters were tied up scoreless until the top of the seventh inning against the mound. Chances for a follow-up hit failed at both the top of the second and third innings, and a chance for a second base with no outs and no outs in the top of the seventh. He continued to struggle against starting pitcher Ha Young-min (three hits, two walks and four strikeouts in six innings), and Yang Ji-yul (one hit and no run in one inning). On top of that, pitcher Lee Sang-dong allowed a three-run shot to the left against Kim Gun-hee in the bottom of the seventh inning with two outs and runners on the first and second bases, widening the score to 0-8.
As soon as everyone thought it was over, KT suddenly began to practice magic. Pinch hitter Kim Min-hyuk, who led off the eighth inning, drew a walk, and Mel Rojas Jr. hit an RBI double. Kwon Dong-jin drew a straight walk, Oh Jae-il filled the bases with four pitches, and Kang Hyun-woo drew a push walk, and the allocation team made it 3-8 with a sacrifice fly to the center field.
With one out in the top of the ninth inning, pinch hitter Moon Sang-chul walked, Kang Baek-ho and Kwon Dong-jin lined up the bases again with consecutive hits. Oh Jae-il struck out three pitches and was on the brink of losing one out, but after Kang Hyun-woo got a pushout walk, Bae Jeong-dae hit a thrilling left-center tie grand slam against Kiwoom Kim Sung-min. It was the moment that brought the game, which was trailing 0-8, to 8-8.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, KT overcame a crisis of one out and runners on the first and second bases to prolong the game. KT’s firepower continued even in the top of the 10th inning. After leadoff hitter Shim Woo-joon reached the second base due to a throwing error at the third base following a bunt, Kim Min-hyuk assisted Shim Woo-joon to advance to the third base by hitting a fly ball to the center field. Then right-handed slugger Moon Sang-chul, who pushed Park Byung-ho to the Samsung Lions, hit a dramatic come-from-behind two-run shot against Kim Dong-wook. It was the moment when he reported the finishing hit.
KT did not stop there, but created a bases-loaded opportunity with Kang Baek-ho’s walk, Kwon Dong-jin’s hit, and Oh Jae-il’s walk again, then tied Kang Hyun-woo’s push walk and Bae Jeong-dae’s sacrifice fly to seal the victory. 유흥알바
KT closer Park Young-hyun was on the verge of first and second base with consecutive hits against Song Sung-moon and Ko Young-woo after one out in the bottom of the 10th inning, but he ended the reversal by striking out first baseman Infield Fly and Won Sung-joon.
KT, which has displayed incredible magic, has won five consecutive games, nine consecutive games against Kiwoom, and five consecutive games against Gocheok Sky Dome, recording 44 wins, two draws and 46 losses for this season. It is in seventh place, 1.5 games behind the NC Dinos.
KT, which was considered the favorite along with the KIA Tigers and LG Twins prior to the season, suffered a humiliation of falling to the bottom in mid-April amid the lineup of starters. Since then, the injured have returned one by one, but they have rarely found a clue to a rebound as the all-time ranking battle has unfolded from 1st to 10th in the KBO League. As of June 30, KT’s ranking was ninth, the second lowest among the 10 teams.
KT made the winning series against the Suwon Lotte Giants from the 18th to the 20th of last month a turning point. Since then, it has advanced to five consecutive winning series against LG, SSG, Samsung and Hanwha, and made a series sweep against Kiwoom after 1 win and 1 loss against Doosan and 2 wins against Lotte. It was the first time in about three months since the match against Hanwha in Suwon from April 23 to 25.
If the period is limited from June 18 to the previous day, KT is the strongest team in the KBO League. It had 16 wins, one draw and five losses in 22 games during the period, recording a winning rate of .762 in the range of 70%. The rate is much higher than that of KIA, which is leading the way (13 wins, one draw and seven losses). As a result, KT has come from behind to trail the fifth place by a gap of 1.5 games with 52 games left in the remaining season. KT had a magical journey from last place to second place last year, but is showing signs of doing so again this year.
KT will hold a three-game series at home against fifth-ranked NC that is destined to determine the status of mid-ranked teams. With starting showdowns between Eom Sang-baek (KT) and Kyle Hart (NC) expected on the first day, attention is focusing on whether KT will be able to make it to the top five after winning five consecutive games.