Sweating it out to secure a 73.8% chance of winning the championship, professional baseball team KT Wiz Manager Lee Kang-chul entered the post-match press conference with a bitter smile.

Following a narrow 8-7 victory over the Samsung Lions amid a fierce chase in Game 1 of the Korean Series held at Suwon KT Wiz Park on November 3, KT Manager Lee Kang-chul stroked his chest in relief, saying, "It could have been a disaster," and adding, "Even though I'm smiling, I'm not really smiling."

KT had comfortably led 8-0 before struggling significantly by giving up a massive 7 runs across the 7th and 8th innings.

Manager Lee evaluated the game by saying, "In major games, a single big blow is crucial. I realized that even a slight lapse in concentration is unacceptable," and added, "I think Han Seung-taek's home run to bring in the sixth run had a huge impact. The momentum was almost about to shift, but Park Young-hyun pitched well to stop them."

In the bottom of the 7th inning with no outs and a runner on first while leading 8-2, Manager Lee replaced starting pitcher Wes Daniel with left-hander Logan.

That was where the horror movie began.

Admitting that it was "a pitching change mistake," Manager Lee explained, "I had intended to use Oh Won-seok instead of Logan (who is also a left-hander), but since it was an 8-run lead, I briefly overthought it. Logan didn't pitch poorly, but practically speaking, it was a mistake."

Manager Lee stated that he would utilize Logan, a starting rotation option, normally moving forward, making it highly likely that Logan will start Game 4.

Looking back, Manager Lee noted, "It was a pity that Kim Jung-un threw a changeup instead of his good fastball and allowed a two-run timely hit to Lee Jae-hyun. The pitchers who came after him seemed to have been nervous as a result. We should have prevented those runs."

Manager Lee repeatedly praised Park Young-hyun—who came on in relief with one out and the bases loaded in the 8th inning, allowed a run on a wild pitch, but secured 5 outs for the save—describing him as having "handled it cleverly and well."

"It looks like we will need to use Jeon Yong-ju instead of Oh Won-seok in the middle relief," Manager Lee said, adding that thanks to winning luckily after deploying many relief pitchers, he feels "things are getting sorted out."

This means the pitching staff to be operated for the remainder of the series has been decided.

(Photo: Yonhap News)