KT Wiz won the final regular-season game against the Kiwoom Heroes, securing at least a ticket to the fifth-place match (tiebreaker). With the victory, KT finished the season with a winning rate of over 500 percent for the sixth consecutive year.
KT won 10-7 at the home game of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League against Kiwoom at KT Wiz Park in Suwon on the 28th.
With this, KT finished this season with 72-70 wins and two draws. It is currently ranked fifth alone in the league. On the other hand, Kiwoom had a record of 58-85. Kiwoom has left the final game (away) of the season against SSG Landers on the 30th. If Kiwoom wins this game, KT will advance to the wild card game. On the other hand, if Kiwoom loses, on the 1st of next month, the 5th place game (Tibraker) will be held for the first time in the 43-year history of the KBO league.
On this day, KT scored when leadoff hitter Kim Min-hyuk got on base with a triple in the bottom of the first inning and subsequent Rojas grounded out to second base.
Kiwoom took the 6-1 lead by picking up two runs each in the second, third and fourth innings. In the second inning, with one out and runners on the first base, Jang Jae-young hit a two-run shot over the left fence. In the third inning, Kiwoom scored two runs thanks to Choi Joo-hwan’s timely hit and Jang Jae-young’s pushing walk RBI. In the fourth inning, Lee Ju-hyung and Choi Joo-hwan made timely hits to take the 6-1 lead. 스포츠토토
KT, however, did not back down easily. Soon after, he scored five runs in a large number at the bottom of the fourth inning, bringing the game to square one 6-6. Kang hit a timely hit to left, Hwang Jae-gyun hit a sacrifice hit to right field, and Bae Jeong-dae hit a timely double to left, making it 6-6.
KT had two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning, and Kang hit a double that fell inside the right field line, before scoring a come-from-behind run when Oh Jae-il made a timely hit. In the sixth inning, with two outs and Shim Woo-joon’s double, Kim Min-hyuk hit a timely hit to left. In the end, KT’s timely hit by Oh Jae-il and Bae Jeong-dae effectively sealed the victory in the seventh inning.
KT’s starting pitcher Benjamin gave up five hits (one homer) and four walks, six strikeouts and six runs (four earned) during three ⅓ innings. However, Ko Young-pyo, who took the mound after Sovereign pitched the ⅓ innings, took responsibility for one hit and one run during five innings, spearheading his team’s victory. After taking the mound with two outs in the fourth inning, Ko pitched a perfect pitch until he allowed a hit to leadoff hitter Park Soo-jong in the ninth inning.
KT then pitched ⅓ innings with Park Young-hyun on the mound with two outs in the ninth inning. Ko Young-pyo won the relief pitcher for the first time in 2,965 days after the game against KIA on Aug. 16, 2016. With a total of 15 hits, Kim Min-hyuk, Kang Baek-ho and Oh Jae-il each had three hits and hard hits. On the other hand, Kiwoom had only eight scattered hits, with Choi Joo-hwan having three hits.
KT sold out 18,700 seats in the final game for the 12th time this season. This is the highest number of tickets sold out in a single season (previously sold out in a single season: five times in 2023). It is also the first time that the team has sold out in the match against Kiwoom since its foundation. With the tickets sold out on the day, KT has reached 843,942 spectators in the final. It is the first time that KT has surpassed 800,000 spectators in a single season since its foundation. KT had previously set the record for the largest number of spectators at Wiz Park with 699,745 accumulated at home against Doosan on the 7th.
To commemorate the achievement of the largest number of spectators, KT presented awards to the largest number of visitors and the largest number of donors before the game. KT has accumulated 3 percent of ticket fees and makes donations every year through social contribution activities after the end of the season. After the game, KT’s players and executives thanked their fans for surpassing the largest number of spectators.
KT has established itself as a strong team in the KBO league with a winning rate of around 500 percent since 2019. Although it failed to advance to autumn baseball in the sixth place in the 2019 season, it ended the pennant race in second place by marking 81 wins, 62 losses, and 1 draw in the 2020 season. He then finally won the regular season with 76 wins, 59 losses, and 9 draws, winning the Korean Series for the first time by winning the Korean Series after a first-place match with the Samsung Lions.
KT continued to join the fall baseball festival with 80 wins, 62 losses and two draws in the 2022 season, and finished in fourth place in the final ranking. In addition, the team won 79 wins, 62 losses and three draws in the last season, ranking second in the Korean Series. KT, which was considered a favorite even before the opening of this season, once fell to the bottom of the list. However, it miraculously elevated its ranking from ninth to eighth, seventh, sixth, fifth and fourth, before moving on to third place. If KT advances to the wild card game now, it will succeed in advancing to the post season for the fifth consecutive year. Will a miracle come to KT, which has become a regular autumn baseball team in the 2020s.