The KT Wiz defeated the Hanwha Eagles with a cool upset to extend their winning streak to three games. They have now won 10 of their last 11 games and secured their seventh consecutive winning series.
KT won 12-6 at home against Hanwha in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Katie Wiz Park on Sept. 9. The win was KT’s third straight and improved their record to 51-2-44 on the season. Hanwha, on the other hand, dropped its fourth straight game to fall to 38-51.
It was Hanwha who struck first. Hanwha took a 2-0 lead in the first inning with back-to-back home runs from Noh Si-hwan and Chae Eun-sung, who both took advantage of KT starter Uhm Sang-baek’s changeup. In the bottom of the inning, KT got one run back when Lee Ho-yeon doubled off Hanwha starter Felix Peña and Park Byung-ho singled up the middle.
Hanwha fired up the cannons again in the top of the third inning to pull away from KT. This time, it was Noh Si-hwan who was the hero. After back-to-back singles by Moon Hyun-bin and Jung Eun-won put runners on first and second, Noh took a fastball from Uhm Sang-baek for a three-run home run. Noh’s 25th home run of the season made the score 5-1.
Trailing, KT scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to put the pressure on Hanwha. Peña walked Hwang Jae-gyun and Park Byung-ho singled, and with runners on second and third, Jang Sung-woo was hit by a pitch to bring in Hwang. Alford walked and Kim Sang-soo grounded out to load the bases, then Oh Yoon-seok grounded out to bring in Jang Jang-woo, who stole a double with runners on first and third.
KT then scored six runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to turn the tide. Kim Min-hyuk singled to right, Lee Ho-yeon was hit by a pitch, and Hwang Jae-gyun singled to right to load the bases. Moon Sang-chul hit a timely double to make it 6-5 in favor of KT. Jang Jang-woo’s sacrifice fly brought in Hwang Jae-gyun, and Moon Sang-chul came home on Ahn Chi-young’s triple off a forked ball from reliever Lee Tae-yang, making the score 8-5, a three-run lead.
Kim Sang-soo’s sacrifice fly brought in Ahn Chi-young, and in the bottom of the fifth, 안전놀이터 Kim Min-hyuk, who was batting for the second time in the inning, hit a single to center field to bring in Oh Yoon-seok, and the score quickly increased to 10-5.
KT added a run in the bottom of the seventh when Ahn Chi-young singled to right field off Jung Woo-ram and Oh Yoon-seok doubled, and then added another run on a wild pitch by Jung and a sacrifice fly by Kim Min-hyuk to make it 12-5. Hanwha exploded for its first three-homer game in the top of the eighth inning when Noh Si-hwan hit a solo shot off reliever Kim Young-hyun, but it was not enough to change the outcome as KT held on for the win.