The bottom-ranked Kiwoom Heroes escaped a five-game losing streak and put the brakes on the KIA Tigers' winning streak, propelled by the stellar pitching of right-handed ace An Woo-jin and a strong performance by Seo Geon-chang on his birthday.

Kiwoom defeated the KIA Tigers 3 to 1 in their regular season home game of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League held at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul today (the 22nd).

Third-place KIA saw its six-game winning streak come to an end.

Consequently, the gap with the fourth-place LG Twins, who did not play a game today, narrowed to half a game.

An Woo-jin earned his 3rd win of the season (6 losses) by pitching 7 scoreless innings, throwing 95 pitches, striking out 6 batters, and allowing only 4 hits and 1 hit-by-pitch.

An had been removed from the 1st-team roster on the 12th due to a stiff neck, but upon his return today, he completed 7 innings for the first time this season.

He completely shut down the KIA batting lineup by utilizing a fastball with a top speed of 158 km/h along with curves, sliders, and changeups.

In the batting lineup, Seo Geon-chang, celebrating his birthday, shone with 2 hits in 3 at-bats, 2 RBIs, and 1 walk.

On the other hand, KIA's Adam Oller, who shares the lead in wins this season with 11 victories, pitched well with 6 innings, 4 hits allowed, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts, and 1 run allowed, but failed to add to his win tally due to a lack of run support.

Kiwoom scored the opening run in the bottom of the 3rd inning.

With 1 out, Park Joo-hong hit a full-count ball that dropped between KIA shortstop Ha Joo-suk, left fielder Park Jae-hyun, and center fielder Kim Ho-ryung, turning into a fortunate double.

Shortly after, Seo Geon-chang drove in Park Joo-hong with an RBI single that slipped through the infield.

After a tight pitching duel followed, Kiwoom sealed the victory in the bottom of the 7th inning after Oller left the mound.

Leadoff batter Kim Gun-hee hit a ball dropping to the right of center fielder against KIA's changed pitcher Cho Sang-woo. Following Kwon Hyuk-bin's sacrifice bunt and pinch-hitter Kim Woong-bin being hit by a pitch, it became 1 out with runners on first and second.

After Park Joo-hong was retired on a fly ball to left field, Seo Geon-chang launched an RBI double to right-center, bringing Kim Gun-hee home.

First base runner Kim Woong-bin also reached third base and then scored taking advantage of a fielding error by KIA center fielder Kim Ho-ryung, extending the lead to 3 to 0.

Yuto Kanakubo, who took the mound at the top of the 9th, allowed 1 run after giving up consecutive hits to Harold Castro and Na Sung-bum with 1 out, but protected the 3 to 1 victory without giving up any additional runs.

(Photo: Yonhap News)