KT WIZ celebrated in front of the largest crowd in franchise history. KT defeated the Doosan Bears in the bottom of the ninth inning on Kang Hyun-woo’s game-winning pushoff double to clinch second place in the regular season and a direct playoff berth.
On October 10, KT won 5-4 against Doosan in Suwon. With the win in the final game of the regular season, KT clinched second place in the league with 79 wins, three ties, and 62 losses, earning a direct playoff berth.
On that day, KT faced Doosan starter Choi Seung-yong with a starting batting order of Kim Sang-soo (shortstop), Hwang Jae-gyun (third base), Alford (left field), Park Byung-ho (first base), Jang Sung-woo (catcher), Kang Baek-ho (designated hitter), Cho Yong-ho (right field), Shin Bon-ki (second base), and Bae Jeong-dae (center field). KT’s starting pitcher was Joy Hyun.
Doosan struck first in the first inning. Doosan opened the scoring in the first inning with a single by Jung Soo-bin and a double by Rojas to put runners on second and third with no outs, but Yang Seok-hwan hit a grounder to shortstop.
KT got runners on first and second in the bottom of the second on a Park Byung-ho walk and a Jang Jang-woo single up the middle. Choi Soo-ho hit a single that hit the opposing starting pitcher’s foot and went into right field. KT was unable to capitalize on the ensuing one-out opportunity as Choi Jae-dae and Kim Sang-soo struck out.
In the top of the fourth inning, Doosan put runners on first and third with a leadoff double by Kim Jae-hwan and a sacrifice bunt by Kang Seung-ho, but Kim In-tae grounded out to short. However, the next batter, Park Jun-young, lined a single to left field against reliever Kang Geon, to tie the game.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, KT faced Kim Kang-ryul, a pitcher with a change of assignment, with the bases loaded. However, they were unable to capitalize on the opportunity as they struck out looking.
KT had one more chance in the bottom of the eighth inning. In the bottom of the eighth, Jang Jang-woo and Park Kyung-soo drew walks to put runners on first and second base. A wild pitch by opposing closer Chung Chul-won put runners on second and third. Choi Jae-dae turned the game around with a two-run double down the left field line.
KT sent closer Kim Jae-yoon to the mound in the top of the ninth. However, Kim immediately faced the threat of tying the game after being hit by a leadoff triple by Jung Soo-bin. Kim Jae-yoon struck out Kim Tae-geun on a wild pitch, but gave up a single to Yang Seok-hwan to end the game with a blown save. Kim Jae-yoon then gave up a wild pitch to put runners on second and third.
However, KT had veteran Hwang Jae-gyun on the mound. Hwang Jae-gyun led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a three-pitch 147 km/h fastball from Jung Chul-won for a 125-meter solo home run to tie the game in the middle of the month.
In the bottom of the first inning, KT had back-to-back singles by Park Byung-ho and Lee Ho-yeon to put runners on first and second. With runners on second and third, pinch-hitter Moon Sang-chul walked on an automatic high four. The Doosan bench opted to face Kang Hyun-woo. Kang Hyun-woo got a straight grounder to short to end the game.
After the win, KT head coach Lee Kang-cheol said, “Today’s game showed that our players had a strong will to secure their place in the standings. Both the starters and the bullpen kept the game close with minimal runs, and our bats were focused in their chances. We had a difficult start to the season, finishing in last place, and then we won the last game to clinch second place. It’s been a magical season.”
“My players, coaching staff, support staff, and front of house have done a great job, and I would like to thank all the employees of the Group for their interest and support. Most of all, I would like to thank the KT fans for their loyal support throughout the season. We will do our best to prepare for the postseason and make a good showing.”
KT captain Park Kyung-soo said, “I felt it was not easy at the beginning of this season, but I think the whole team worked well together and overcame the difficulties. As the captain, I am grateful to all the players. I’m also grateful to the manager and coaching staff for their faith in us. There is still fall baseball left, but we will not forget the difficulties we faced at the 메이저토토사이트 bottom of the standings at the beginning of the season, and we want to improve our postseason performance and win the championship.”
Meanwhile, KT, which played its final game of the regular season on the same day, added 10,937 fans to its attendance total to finish the season with 697,350 fans. This is the highest attendance record in the club’s history, surpassing the total of 686,541 set in the 2017 season.
