The KT Wiz continued its momentum with its fourth consecutive winning series.

KT won the second game of a home doubleheader against the Samsung Lions of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League 2-1 on Tuesday at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, South Korea.

Tied 1-1 in the bottom of the eighth inning, Kang Baek-ho hit the game-winning solo home run off former teammate Kim Jae-yoon with a line drive to right field. Closer Park Young-hyun overcame a fielding error in the top of the ninth to earn his 10th save of the season.

With two wins and a tie in the three-game series, No. 9 KT has won four consecutive series. They are 36-44-2 (.450 winning percentage). Samsung, on the other hand, suffered its second straight loss and dropped one spot to third place with 44 wins, 36 losses and two draws (.550 winning percentage), passing LG (45 wins, 36 losses and two draws, .556 winning percentage).

The first game of the doubleheader was a 2-2 draw. KT starter Ko Young-pyo pitched 6 1/3 innings, allowing one run (unearned) on six hits with two walks and five strikeouts, but the game ended in a tie in the top of the ninth inning when Kim Heon-gon grounded out to third base on a throwing error by Hwang Jae-gyun, allowing Ryu Ji-hyuk to score on a single to right field to tie the game at 2-2.

The second game was no different as the two teams struggled to establish dominance. Both teams traded runs in the first inning.

Samsung took the lead in the top of the first off KT starter Joo Hyun Kim, who singled to right and Koo Ji-chan doubled to left to put runners on second and third with David McKinnon’s sacrifice fly to center field.

KT answered right back in the bottom of the first off Samsung starter Hwang Dong-jae. After back-to-back singles by Mel Rojas Jr. and Kang Baek-ho, Moon Sang-chul drew a walk to load the bases and Oh Jae-il tied the game with a sacrifice fly to left field.

The score remained 1-1 as both teams continued to pitch well. Samsung’s Hwang Dong-jae pitched five innings of three-hit ball with one walk and four strikeouts in his first start of the season, while Lim Chang-min and Kim Dae-woo pitched scoreless sixth and seventh innings. KT’s bullpen also did not allow an earned run after starter Joo Hyun Kim pitched 2⅔ innings of three-hit, walk-off relief, followed by Kim Min-soo (2⅓ innings), Park Si-young (1⅔ innings), and Kim Min-soo (1⅓ innings).

In the bottom of the eighth, KT’s Kang Baek-ho broke the 1-1 tie with a home run. With the bases loaded and two outs, he pulled a low fastball from Kim Jae-yoon for a line drive over the right-field wall like a clothesline. Even with his left knee touching the ground 먹튀사이트 after the contact, the pitch was well-powered and traveled 125 meters on a low trajectory. It was his 22nd home run of the season. He finished the game 2-for-3 with two runs, one RBI, one run scored and one walk.

In the top of the ninth, KT’s closer Park Young-hyun preserved the one-run lead and earned his 10th save of his rookie season. Leadoff hitter Ryu Ji-hyuk hit a ground ball to shortstop Kim Sang-soo, who made a throwing error. After allowing Ryu to steal second base to tie the game, Park got Park Byung-ho to ground out to third base to give him a breather. Yoon Jung-bin singled to put runners on first and second, but he got Kang Min-ho to fly out to shortstop and Lee Sung-kyu to ground out to shortstop to end the game.

Earlier, KT closer Kim Min-seung-man, who pitched 1 1/3 innings of one-hit ball with two strikeouts and no walks, improved to 4-1 on the season. Kim Jae-yoon, who gave up the game-winning home run to Kang Baek-ho, suffered his fifth loss of the season.