The KT Wiz came back after trailing by eight runs against the Lotte Giants on Friday, winning the game 9-8 in walk-off fashion in the 10th inning. The game was the first win for the Wiz over the Giants after previously playing six games in the season.
The evening matchup took place at the home ballpark for the Wiz, the Suwon KT Wiz Park in Suwon, Korea.
Disasterous First Inning For Wiz
The Giants had an explosive first winning, with three home runs scoring seven runs in total for the Busan squad. The home runs came from Jeon Jun-woo, Lee Dae-ho and Han Dong-hee. Being Jeon’s seventh of the year, he currently leads the club in home runs.
The 11-batter inning came against Bae Je-seong, who played three innings before being taken out of play.
An eighth run was tacked onto the Giants’ lead in the third, as Kim Joon-tae got home off of an error.
Wiz Begin Comeback
Down by eight runs, it took many plays in different innings to let the Wiz come back.
Their run started with a splash, as Mel Rojas Jr. scored his 13th home run of the year. Rojas is currently tied for most home runs in the lead along with Roberto Ramos.
In the fourth, hits from Bae Jeong-dae and Kim Min-hyeok made the game 8-3.
Jang Sung-woo got his first RBI of the game in the fifth, batting in a runner with a single to center field.
Sixth Inning Ties It Up
The Wiz’s strongest inning was the fourth, where the team ran through three relieving pitchers en route to tying up the game.
Oh Hyun-taek had a rough appearance to start the inning, giving up two home runs in the sixth inning before being pulled.
Park Shi-young was brought in next, being pulled after earning one out, allowing a walk and a hit. The out was a sacrifice fly that took a runner home to make the game 8-7.
While Park Jin-hyung was able to strike out two batters and end the inning, the pitcher allowed a hit from Hwang Jae-gyun to drop in, moving the game to an even 8-8.
Extra Innings Hands Wiz The Win
The deciding play came in the 10th inning, where a hit from Oh Tae-gon allowed Moon Sang-cheol to come from second to home. The close sliding play at home was challenged by the Giants, however, it was upheld.
The play came against Giants reliever Lee In-bok, who was given the loss for the game. A similar loss came in his appearance before, where a walk-off game went to the Kiwoom Heroes.
Wiz reliever Ju Kwon was given the win for the game after leaving the Giants hitless through one-and-two-thirds innings.
Wiz Get First Win Over Giants
Starting their third series against the Busan squad, the Wiz tasted victory for the first time over the Giants. The team was previously swept in a home and away series each. The Wiz sit eighth in the KBO, with the potential to overtake the Samsung Lions, a team which is one-and-a-half games ahead.
The Wiz host the Giants for two more games, with the Saturday game starting at 5:00PM KST (4:00AM EDT)
Around The KBO
NC Dinos star pitcher Koo Chang-mo put on another great performance, pitching seven innings and limited the Hanhwa Eagles to three hits and one run. The pitcher helped his team win 3-1.
A walk-off win went to the Kiwoom Heroes, who got two runs off of a hit from Ju Hyo-sang to win the game 2-1 over the SK Wyverns. The win was the third-straight walk-off victory for the Heroes.
Moving their winning streak to three, the Kia Tigers beat the Samsung Lions 5-4.
Four hours of battle resulted in the Doosan Bears picking up an 18-10 win against the LG Twins.
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