Baseball’s KT Wiz has won six straight games.
KT extended its winning streak to six games with a 6-0 sweep of the NC Dinos in the ‘2024 Shinhan Bank SOL Bank KBO League’ at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, South Korea, on April 19. With the win, KT improved its record to 45 wins, two draws, and 46 losses, reducing the gap to one game over fifth-place SSG (46 wins, one draw, and 45 losses).
KT, which has been on a tear of late, lined up with Mel Rojas Jr. (right fielder), Kang Baek-ho (designated hitter), Moon Sang-chul (first baseman), Jang Sung-woo (catcher), Bae Jeong-dae (center fielder), Hwang Jae-gyun (third baseman), Kim Min-hyuk (left fielder), Shim U-joon (shortstop), and Kwon Dong-jin (second baseman) in the starting lineup. KT’s bats pounded out 11 hits. Rojas, Jang Sung-woo, Kim Min-hyuk, and Shim Woo-joon all had multi-hit games.
Starting pitcher Uhm Sang-baek pitched six innings of one-hit ball, two walks, one hit and eight strikeouts, but was unable to pick up the win as the KT bats came alive late. The bullpen of Woo Kyu-min (one scoreless inning), Sung Jae-heon (one scoreless inning), and Park Si-young (one scoreless inning) preserved the win.
NC’s starting lineup
NC’s starting lineup was Park Min-woo (second base), Park Si-won (center field), Park Gun-woo (center field), Matt Davidson (designated hitter), Kim Hwijip (shortstop), Park Hyeol (left field), Seo Ho-cheol (third base), Kim Hyung-joon (catcher), and Do Tae-hoon (first base). The NC bats struggled with two hits and a walk. Park Gun-woo and Kim Hwi-jip had one hit apiece.
Starter Kyle Hart pitched six innings of four-hit ball with two walks and nine strikeouts, but the offense couldn’t get any run support. The bullpen of Lim Jeong-ho (0 innings, 3 runs), Ryu Jin-wook (0 innings, 3 runs, 2 earned), and Lee Jun-ho 사설 토토사이트 (2 scoreless innings) couldn’t get out of the seventh inning.
KT started the inning with a leadoff single by Rojas. Kang Baek-ho flied out to right field and Moon Sang-chul grounded out to third base to load the bases, but Jang Sung-woo came through with an infield single to put runners on first and second. Choi Jae-dae couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity as he hit a grounder to shortstop. In the top of the second, Kim Min-hyuk and Shim Woo-joon singled to lead off the inning, but Kwon Dong-jin was caught fouling out at third base and Rojas grounded out to shortstop to end the threat.
In the top of the third inning, Seo Ho-cheol drew a leadoff walk.
Kim Hyung-joon singled and Do Tae-hoon walked to load the bases, but Park Min-woo and Park Si-won were stranded on first and second with no outs. In the fourth inning, Park Gun-woo led off with a single, but the center field lineup of Davidson, Kim Hwijip, and Park struck out.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, KT’s leadoff hitter Choi Jae-dae advanced to second base on a walk and a stolen base. However, Hwang Jae-gyun, Kim Min-hyuk, and Shim Woo-joon all struck out to end the threat without scoring. In the top of the seventh, Kim Hwi-jip led off with a single and Kim Sung-wook laid down a sacrifice bunt to put runners on first and second. However, Seo Ho-cheol and Kim Hyung-joon were both stranded on base.
The game was tense, but the tide was sharply turning in KT’s favor. In the bottom of the seventh, Kim Min-hyuk led off with a triple and quickly loaded the bases with no outs. Shim Woo-joon followed with an RBI single to center field. Pinch-hitter Kim Sang-soo singled and Rojas followed with an RBI double, Kang Baek-ho with an RBI single, Moon Sang-cheol with an RBI single, Jang Jang-woo with an RBI single, and Cho Jae-dae with an RBI groundout.