▲ kt wiz's Choi Won-jun
The kt wiz secured a thrilling come-from-behind victory against the last-place Kiwoom Heroes, continuing their march at the top of the standings.
KT defeated Kiwoom 6-2 in their home game of the 2026 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League held at Suwon kt wiz park today (the 16th), powered by Choi Won-jun's go-ahead hit and Ahn Hyun-min's insurance home run.
With a season record of 62 wins, 39 losses, and 2 draws with a winning percentage of 0.614, KT took sole possession of first place, leading the second-place Samsung Lions (62 wins, 41 losses, 2 draws, 0.602)—whose game was canceled due to rain today—by one game.
Kiwoom held the lead until the middle innings.
In the top of the first with two outs and runners on first and second, Kiwoom's Choo Jae-hyun and Kim Keonhee delivered consecutive hits to grab an early 2-0 lead.
After switching sides, KT clawed back a run with back-to-back doubles by Choi Won-jun and Ahn Hyun-min.
Later, after missing scoring opportunities, kt tied the game 2-2 in the bottom of the sixth when pinch hitter Kim Min-hyuk drove in Heo Kyung-min—who had hit a double—with a single up the middle.
With two outs and runners on first and second continuing the pressure, Choi Won-jun smashed a timely single up the middle to turn the game around at 3-2.
In the bottom of the seventh, Ahn Hyun-min launched a solo homer to left field, widening the gap to 4-2.
In the bottom of the eighth, they sealed the victory by adding two more runs on Choi Won-jun's RBI single and Kim Hyun-soo's sacrifice fly.
KT starting pitcher Logan Allen pitched 6 innings, allowing 6 hits and 2 runs to pick up his 4th win (1 loss).
Choi Won-jun led the offense going 5-for-4 with 2 RBIs.
Over in Jamsil, the SSG Landers shutout the LG Twins 6-0.
The game, featuring a starting pitching duel between Pedro Avila and Carlos Carrasco, saw a parade of zeros until the middle innings.
However, SSG's offense exploded during their attack in the top of the fifth.
With one out and runners on second and third following a walk by Bligh Madris and a double by Cho Hyung-woo, Jung Jun-jae hit a 2-RBI single up the middle to take a 2-0 lead.
After two outs, Park Seong-han drove in Jung Jun-jae with an RBI single up the middle to extend the lead to 3-0.
Gaining momentum, SSG chased Carrasco from the mound in the top of the sixth with one out when Han Yu-sum and Madris hit back-to-back home runs, widening the gap to 5-0.
Han Yu-sum, who hit his first home run of the season the previous day, went deep for the second consecutive game to belatedly heat up his bat.
Substitute foreign hitter Madris, who is leaving SSG after this game, hit his 4th home run in 17 appearances.
LG had a golden opportunity with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the sixth, but Austin Dean hit into a shortstop double play, failing to score.
Escaping the crisis, SSG secured the win by adding a run in the top of the seventh on an RBI single by Han Yu-sum.
SSG starter Avila pitched 7 scoreless innings with 4 hits and 8 strikeouts, extending his winning streak to 4 games since his KBO League debut.
LG's trusted starter Carrasco surrendered 5 runs on 8 hits over 5 and one-third innings.
Finishing the weekend three-game series with 2 wins and 1 loss, SSG achieved a winning series against LG for the first time in about four years since July 2022.
In Jeonnam-Gwangju, the KIA Tigers defeated the Doosan Bears 2-1.
Snatching two straight wins after dropping the opening game of the weekend series, KIA moved past Doosan by half a game to climb back to 4th place after 4 days.
Doosan drew first blood in the top of the second when Ahn Jae-seok—who doubled to left field—crossed home plate on Park Chan-ho's sacrifice fly.
KIA tied it 1-1 in the bottom of the third when Park Jae-hyun launched a solo home run to right field.
In the bottom of the fifth with two outs, Park Jung-woo singled to right and advanced to second on a pitcher's pickoff throwing error. He then dashed all the way home taking advantage of an error by Doosan shortstop Park Chan-ho following Park Jae-hyun's infield hit, turning the game around to 2-1.
Having successfully flipped the score, KIA protected their lead as starting pitcher Adam Oller held Doosan to 1 run on 4 hits with 6 strikeouts through 7 innings, followed by Jeon Sang-hyun and Lee Eui-lee who took charge of the 8th and 9th frames.
Oller claimed his 11th win (8 losses) of the season to take sole possession of the lead in wins, while left-handed fireballer Lee Eui-lee—who transformed into a closer—collected his 2nd save (2 wins, 6 losses).
Doosan starter Gwak 빈 pitched well, giving up 2 runs (1 earned) on 7 hits over 7 innings, but suffered the loss.
Meanwhile, the games scheduled for today between the NC Dinos and Lotte Giants (in Busan), and the Hanwha Eagles and Samsung Lions (in Daegu) were canceled due to rain.
(Photo courtesy of kt wiz, Yonhap News)
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