ethernetacademy.netThe goddess of victory did not hold their hand.
The KT Wiz lost 7-8 at home to the LG Twins in Game 3 of the best-of-seven Shinhan Bank SOL KBO Postseason Korean Series at KT Wiz Park in Suwon on Tuesday.
The game was back-and-forth throughout. They fought back tears in the late innings. KT, which had previously won the first game 3-2 on April 7 and lost the second game 4-5 on April 8, was now down 1-2 in the series.
“The players played a good game, but the luck went to the opponent,” said KT head coach Lee Kang-cheol, “The batting lineup seems to have come alive as a whole. We will prepare well and do well in Game 4 (Nov. 11).”
KT made several changes to their starting lineup. The lineup consisted of Cho Bae-dae (center fielder), Kim Sang-soo (shortstop), Hwang Jae-gyun (third baseman), Park Byung-ho (first baseman), Jang Sung-woo (catcher), Moon Sang-chul (designated hitter), Anthony Alford (left fielder), Oh Yun-seok (second baseman), and Cho Yong-ho (right fielder). They batted eighth, sixth, and then first. The struggling Park Byung-ho stayed in the fourth spot, and Alford dropped from third to seventh. The starting pitcher was Wes Benjamin.
Benjamin, who went 4-0 with a 0.84 ERA in five games and 32 1/3 innings in the regular season in the LG Series, gave up four runs on seven hits (one home run) with two walks and three strikeouts in five innings. Son Dong-hyun gave up one run without recording an out, Lee Sang-dong pitched two scoreless innings, Park Young-hyun pitched one scoreless inning, and Kim Jae-yoon gave up three runs in one inning. Kim Jae-yoon was the losing pitcher.
The only consolation was that the slumping bats came alive. Park Byung-ho went 2-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs, Alford went 2-for-5 with a home run and one RBI, and Choi Soo-ho went 2-for-4 with a home run and one RBI. Bae Jae-dae went 3-for-2, Hwang Jae-gyun went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs, Kim Min-hyuk, who came off the bench, went 2-for-2 with a home run and one RBI, and Jung Jun-young went 1-for-1.
KT rallied from a 1-3 deficit in the bottom of the fifth inning. One out later, Park Byung-ho singled to right. Jang Sung-woo grounded to the shortstop and Oh Ji-hwan reached on a throwing error. Moon Sung-joo caught the ball and threw to third, but it was out of play. With runners on first and second and one out, pitcher Jung Woo-young went down and Ham Deok-ju came up. KT brought in Kim Min-hyuk to pinch-hit for Moon Sang-chul. Kim made it 2-3 with an RBI single, and Alford followed with an RBI double to make it 3-3.
LG brought in pitcher Baek Seung-hyun. Oh Yoon-seok’s pinch-hitter Lee Ho-yeon grounded out to third, and Kim Min-hyuk was thrown out at home. With runners on first and second, Choi Sung-ho hit an RBI single. The score was 4-3.
The lead didn’t last long. In the top of the sixth inning, Moon Bo-kyung singled to left and Lee took the mound himself. He pulled Benjamin and brought in pitcher Son Dong-hyun. Son gave up a two-run home run to Park Dong-won to make it 4-5. 무지개토토 도메인
In the second half, KT seemed to pull away. In the bottom of the eighth inning, with the score at 4-5, Choi Jae-dae singled to right against LG closer Ko Woo-seok. Kim Sang-soo followed with a sacrifice bunt. Hwang Jae-gyun followed with a single to left to tie the game at 5-5. With the bases loaded, Park Byung-ho hit a two-run home run to left. KT smiled at 7-5.
In the top of the ninth, KT brought in closer Kim Jae-yoon. Hong Chang-ki’s infield