Professional baseball team kt wiz has become the first to reach the 80-win milestone.

On the 24th, the first day of the Chuseok holiday, kt defeated the NC Dinos 3-2 in a home game at Suwon kt wiz park in the 2026 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League, backed by a stellar pitching performance from Davis Daniel and a solo home run by Sam Hilliard.

By reaching 80 wins first (48 losses, 4 draws, win percentage 0.625), kt has strongly positioned itself to advance straight to the Korean Series (KS).

Historically in professional baseball, teams that claim 80 wins first have recorded a 95.2% probability of winning the regular-season title (20 out of 21 instances).

Except for the SK Wyverns (predecessor of the SSG Landers) in 2019, all such teams finished first in the regular season and advanced directly to the Korean Series.

The probability of winning the Korean Series is 76.2%, or 16 out of 21 instances.

Additionally, maintaining a 3-game lead over the second-place Samsung Lions, kt has reduced its magic number for the regular-season title to 9.

If kt adds 9 wins in its remaining 12 games, it will secure a direct berth to the Korean Series on its own merit for the first time in 5 years since 2021.

kt scored the opening run in the bottom of the 2nd inning when Sam Hilliard smashed a solo homer well over the right-field fence.

Recording his 39th home run of the season, Hilliard tied with Austin Dean (LG Twins) for second place in the category, pulling within one home run of the leader Kim Do-young (40 home runs, KIA Tigers), who is currently competing in the Asian Games.

Hilliard also collected his 122nd RBI of the season, tying with Austin for first place in that category.

Hilliard has shown a blazing hot bat in September alone, blasting 9 home runs and driving in 23 RBIs.

In the bottom of the 4th, with the bases loaded and one out following three walks, kt scored two runs on a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly by Kim Sang-su, pulling ahead 3-0.

The sixth-place NC Dinos fought back in the top of the 9th during their final attack as Blaine Crim hit a 2-run timely single to cut the deficit to one run, but they failed to turn the game around.

kt starting pitcher Daniel dominated the mound, allowing just 1 run on 3 hits with 10 strikeouts through 7 innings.

In Incheon, the Samsung Lions held off the SSG Landers 5-4 to defend their second-place position.

Samsung opened the scoring in the top of the 3rd when Koo Ja-wook hit a double to right-center.

In the top of the 6th, Jeon Byeong-woo blasted a solo home run to left field, extending the lead to 2-0.

In the top of the 7th, with the bases loaded and one out, Koo hit a 2-run double and Lewin Diaz added a sacrifice fly, pushing the score to 5-0.

SSG recovered two runs in the bottom of the 7th on an RBI single by Jeon 의산.

In the bottom of the 8th, Guillermo Heredia hit a single to right field to score a run, narrowing the gap to 3-5.

SSG added another run in the bottom of the 9th amid an error, but fell short of a comeback.

Samsung starting pitcher Ariel Jurado held SSG to 2 runs on 4 hits, 1 walk, and 4 strikeouts over 7 innings to earn the win.

Batting leader Koo Ja-wook went 3-for-4 with 3 RBIs, including two doubles.

In Jamsil, the Lotte Giants secured a 6-4 come-from-behind victory against the postseason-hunting LG Twins, extending their winning streak to 6 games.

LG drew first blood in the bottom of the 3rd with two outs and runners on first and second, capitalizing on an RBI single by Song Chan-ui and an error by Lotte catcher Sohn Sung-bin to score two runs.

Continuing the attack, Moon Jeong-bin hit a triple to right-center and Oh Ji-hwan delivered a double to center, making it 4-0.

Trailing behind, Lotte's batting lineup exploded in the top of the 5th inning.

With no outs and runners on first and second, Na Seung-yeop and Victor Reyes hit consecutive singles to pull back two runs.

After two outs, Jeon Min-jae delivered an RBI single followed by a 2-run double to right-center by Sohn Sung-bin, flipping the score to 5-4.

Gaining momentum, Lotte added an insurance run in the top of the 8th on an RBI single by Na Seung-yeop to lead by two runs.

LG, whose starting pitcher Anders Tolhurst gave up 5 runs in 4 and two-third innings, mobilized its entire bullpen including Go Woo-seok and Son Joo-young, but suffered a setback after a 7-game winning streak.

(Photo courtesy of kt wiz, Yonhap News)