Become a starting baseball player. KT is back.
KT Wiz has achieved two consecutive winning series, raising expectations for a breakout season.
After a 2-1 victory over the Doosan Bears last weekend, KT won two straight games against the Kiwoom Heroes in Suwon on April 23-25 after losing the first game of a three-game series in midweek.
The starting lineup played a big role. On the 23rd, despite the 1-3 loss, it was a tightly contested pitching battle, with the previously shaky foreign pitcher Bo Schuler recording a quality start with six hits, one walk, five strikeouts and two runs in 6⅓ innings. In the top of the seventh inning, Schulcer gave up three runs on two hits and Son Do-yeon followed with two hits, and although the Tigers could only score one run in the eighth inning and lost 1-3, it was encouraging that Schulcer pitched well until the sixth inning.
On the 24th, ace Ko Young-pyo faced off against Kiwoom ace Ahn Woo-jin. Ko pitched a seven-inning complete game, giving up four hits and no walks while striking out five, while the bats scored a run in the third inning against Ahn and knocked him out in the sixth. After scoring two runs on an error in the sixth to take a 3-0 lead, KT added a run in the bottom of the seventh to take a 4-0 lead. After Ko Young-pyo, Park Young-hyun and Kim Jae-yoon completed the 4-1 victory.
On the 25th, Uhm Sang-baek led the victory. He pitched six innings, giving up four hits and one walk while striking out four. While he shut down the Kiwoom bats, the KT bats scored single runs in the second and third innings and added one more in the bottom of the seventh to win 3-0. Park Young-hyun and Kim Jae-yoon followed with scoreless innings.
In three games, the starters threw 19⅓ innings and allowed just two runs. While the starters were perfect, the bats scored runs to take the lead, and Pil Seung-jo closed out the win.
KT’s advantage is that they have a solid starting rotation. Even though Choi Soo-joon is out with elbow surgery, Wes Benjamin, Bo Schulcer, and Ko Young-pyo’s exclusivity at center field is a combination that can’t be matched by other teams. Last year, the team struggled with injuries to its main players, but was able to rise to the occasion thanks to its starting lineup.
This season, injuries to the main lineup helped the team fall to the bottom of the table, but the starters also played a role. Now, the starters seem to be finding some stability. In the three-game series last weekend, every starter went at least five innings.
The batting lineup has also gotten a boost with the return of Park Byung-ho. The table-setters of Kang Baek-ho and Kim Sang-soo get on base, and the center fielders of Alford, Park Byung-ho, Jang Seong-woo, and Kim Min-hyuk load the bases. The bottom of the order is also stronger than before with Lee Ho-yeon, who was traded for Park.먹튀검증
KT is still in 10th place with 14 wins, 2 draws, and 26 losses. They are one game behind the ninth-place Hanwha Eagles (15 W, 3 T, 25 L) and 2.5 games behind the eighth-place Kiwoom Heroes (19 W, 26 L). If we keep up the pace we’re on, we’ll be able to get over the hump and head to the postseason like we did last year.
Alford said. “When I got here last year, we were in eighth place, but we went to the postseason. We’re certainly capable of doing that again this year.”
The escape starts with the starters. And the starters stood up.
