‘Operation Possessed Pinch Success → Success Again’ KT laughed first in the first game of the double header

KT Wiz succeeded in taking the lead by winning the first game of a double header against the Hanwha Eagles.

KT Wiz won 7-0 in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League away game against the Hanwha Eagles held at Hanwha Life Insurance Eagles Park in Daejeon at 2 p.m. on the 17th. With this win, KT maintained its second place in the league with 68 wins, 54 losses, and 3 draws. On the other hand, Hanwha maintained 8th place with 50 wins, 65 losses, and 6 draws. Hanwha suffered three consecutive losses.

While the game unfolded as a pitcher’s battle, there was a difference in the number of pitches. Until the 5th inning, the number of pitches by Hanwha starter Sanchez reached 101. On the other hand, KT starting pitcher Cuevas only had 66 pitches. As a result, while Cuevas pitched without giving up any points, Sánchez was hit by a big blow and gave up 3 runs, which was the difference. Also, at every crucial moment, KT’s pinch-hit strategy was successful and KT eventually smiled.

KT succeeded in taking the lead by scoring first in the first inning. With one out, Hwang Jae-gyun reached base with a double to right-center and then homered when Kang Baek-ho hit a timely hit in the middle. Then, they hit a big one in the 4th inning and ran away to 3-0. With leadoff hitter Park Byung-ho on base with a hit to left-center, Alford came to the plate. Here, Alford hit a two-run shot that went over the left wall against Sanchez (3-0).

On the other hand, Cuevas pitched a scoreless fight until the 5th inning. In the end, Sanchez went down the mound first. Hanwha began utilizing the bullpen by bringing in Jang Si-hwan from the 6th inning.

KT scored an extra point in the 7th inning, effectively putting a wedge in the game. Hanwha replaced pitcher Jang Si-hwan with Yoon Dae-kyung. After two outs, Byung-ho Park hit a single to left and Alford hit an infield hit to the second baseman, giving them a chance to reach first and second base. The next batter is Oh Yoon-seok. Here, KT also took out the pinch hitter card. Pinch hitter Lee Ho-yeon was brought in. And with the ball count of 1-1, he attacked the third pitch and hit a timely double with 2 RBIs in the left-center field. (5-0) It was the moment when Manager Lee Kang-cheol’s pinch-hitting strategy was successful.

For KT, Cuevers went down and Sang-dong Lee came up in the bottom of the 8th inning. Lee Sang-dong neatly blocked Hanwha’s 4th, 5th, and 6th batting order with a three-way strike. And in the top of the 9th inning. KT hit another big one. This time too, a crazy-looking pinch hit operation was carried out. Hanwha brought up its fourth pitcher, Kim Jae-young, following Nam Ji-min. KT’s pinch hitter Cho Yong-ho and follow-up Kang Baek-ho got on base with consecutive hits, but Park Kyung-soo hit a double play to end up with 2 outs and 3rd base.

Here, KT used a pinch-hitting strategy again. Kim Jun-tae’s input. And this안전놀이터 time too, the pinch hit operation was successful. Against Kim Jae-young, Kim Jun-tae attacked the fourth pitch with a ball count of 1-2 and fired a two-run gun that went over the center fence. The score grew to 7-0. The pinch-hit home run was the 27th this season, the 1,028th in KBO history, and Kim Jun-tae’s second personal pinch-hit home run. KT ended the game with Lee Sang-dong on the mound in the bottom of the 9th inning with a three-way strike.
KT starting pitcher Cuevas succeeded in achieving his 9th win of the season by pitching 7 innings (94 pitches), 7 hits, 5 strikeouts, 2 walks, and no runs. Cuevas, who joined KT as a substitute midway through the season, is showing off his formidable power to the point where he has yet to lose this season. Lee Sang-dong then finished the game without allowing a single hit in two innings, striking out three and allowing no runs. In the batting lineup that had a total of 14 hits, Park Byung-ho had 3 hits, and Kang Baek-ho, Alford, and Kim Sang-soo had 2 hits.

On the other hand, Hanwha’s starting pitcher Sanchez suffered defeat with 6 hits (1 home run), 1 walk, 1 ball hit to the body, and 3 runs (3 earned) in 5 innings (101 pitches). Sanchez recorded 6 wins and 6 losses. The batting line recorded 7 sporadic hits.