The KT Wiz swept the three-game series against the Hanwha Eagles to complete a three-game sweep. The sweep sends Hanwha to a five-game losing streak.
KT swept Hanwha 9-0 at home in the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League at Katie Wiz Park in Suwon on Friday. With the victory, KT swept the three-game midweek series against Hanwha and improved to 10-18 on the season with three straight wins. They closed the gap on eighth-place Hanwha, which is now 11-16, to 1.5 games.
Hanwha Eagles Starting Lineup
1.In-ho Choi(Left fielder) 2.Peraza(Right fielder) 3.Noh Si-hwan(Third baseman) 4.Chae Eun-sung(Designated hitter) 5.Ahn Chi-hong(First baseman) 6.Hwang Young-mook(Shortstop) 7.Lim Jong-chan(Center fielder) 8.Lee Jae-won(Catcher) 9.Jung Eun-won(Second baseman) P.Peña
KT Wiz Starting Lineup
1.Chun Sung-ho(2B) 2.Kang Baek-ho(Designated hitter) 3.Rojas(Left fielder) 4.Moon Sang-cheol(1B) 5.Jang Sung-woo(Catcher) 6.Hwang Jae-gyun(3B) 7.Cho Seong-ho(Right fielder) 8.Ahn Chi-young(Center fielder) 9.Kim Sang-soo(Shortstop) P.Won Sang-hyun
The score remained 0-0 until the third inning, with neither team creating much of a chance. In the top of the first, Choi In-ho led off with a double to right, but Peraza struck out swinging on a full count, and after Noh Si-hwan grounded out to shortstop, Chae Eun-sung flied out to right field to end the inning. In the bottom of the first inning, KT got Chun Sung-ho to fly out to shortstop, Kang Baek-ho to ground out to second base, and Rojas to walk, but Moon Sang-chul grounded out to center field.
In the top of the second, Ahn Chi-hong singled to right and was immediately followed by Hwang Young-mook. Lim Jong-chan struck out on three pitches to end the inning. In the bottom of the second inning, Jang Jang-woo singled and Hwang Jae-gyun singled to center field to put runners on first and second with no outs, but Lee Seong-ho struck out, Ahn Chi-young grounded out to center field, and Kim Sang-soo flied out to third base.
In the top of the third, Lee Jae-won grounded out to third base and Jung Eun-won singled, but Choi In-ho grounded out to second base and Peraza grounded out to end the inning. In the bottom of the third, Chun struck out, Kang grounded out to first baseman Baek-ho, and Rojas flied out to center field to end the inning.
Hanwha started the fourth inning with a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch, but Chae Eun-sung grounded out to third, Ahn Chi-hong grounded out to third, and Hwang Young-mook grounded out to the pitcher.
KT, on the other hand, scored five runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to pull away from Hanwha. With the bases loaded and no outs after Moon Sang-chul led off with a single to left, Jang Sung-woo took a two-pitch, 144-kilometer/h fastball from Peña and launched it over the left field wall. Jang’s third home run of the season.
After taking a 2-0 lead with Jang Jang-woo’s home run, KT continued to add to its lead. After Hwang Jae-gyun led off with a single to right, Choi Seong-ho singled to right field, Ahn Chi-young singled to center to put runners on first and third, Kim Sang-soo walked on a straight ball, and Chun Sung-ho grounded out to third, but Kang Baek-ho singled to center to put two runners on base. Rojas followed with a single to drive in Chun and extend KT’s lead to 5-0.
KT added one more run in the bottom of the sixth inning while Han Hwa was relieved by 스포츠토토 Won Sang-hyun. Two batters later, Kang Baek-ho singled to left against Jang Ji-soo, who started in the fifth inning, and Rojas’ double to center scored Kang to make it 6-0, 6 runs.
Three more runs followed. In the bottom of the seventh inning, KT put runners on second and third with no outs when Moon Sang-chul doubled to right and Jang Sung-woo singled to center against Kim Kyu-yeon, and Hwang Jae-gyun singled to right. Lee Soo-ho followed with a double to center field to load the bases, making the score 9-0.
KT starter Won Sang-hyun, the seventh overall pick in the first round of the 2024 Baseball Entry Draft, pitched six innings of three-hit, two-run ball with three strikeouts and no walks to record his first career quality start and win. Kim Min-woo, Son Dong-hyun, and Moon Yong-ik followed with one scoreless inning each. The bats were evenly matched, with Jang Jang-woo, Kang Baek-ho, Rojas, and Moon Sang-cheol all with two hits and Hwang Jae-gyun with three.
Hanwha’s Felix Peña took the loss, allowing five runs on seven hits (one homer) and three walks with two strikeouts in four innings. The bullpen was just as bad, with Jang Ji-soo giving up one run in two innings, Kim Kyu-yeon giving up three runs and Kim Bum-soo giving up one run in one scoreless inning. The offense could only muster five sporadic hits, with Peraza the lone multi-hit performer, to snap a five-game losing streak.