The high-flying march of the KT Wiz, whose momentum seemed unstoppable, was put on hold. A ‘yellow light’ was turned on for second-place Mercury due to an unexpected three-game losing streak.
KT lost all three weekend games against Kiwoom Heroes in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League held at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul from the 1st to the 3rd, falling into a swamp of three consecutive losses. The season record was 63 wins, 2 draws, and 50 losses (0.558).
As SSG Landers suffered a sweep against the KIA Tigers, the gap between 2nd place KT and 3rd place SSG remains two games, but KT missed the opportunity to run further. In addition, 4th place KIA, who has won 8 consecutive games including 3 consecutive games against SSG, is threatening the top teams by narrowing the gap to 1.5 games behind SSG and 3.5 games behind KT. Just because SSG failed to catch up does not mean we can rest assured.
In the three-game series against Kiwoom, KT selected ‘ace’ Go Young-pyo, followed by Bae Je-seong and ‘alternative starter’ Kim Min as starters. William Cuevas could have pitched once in the rotation, but KT coach Lee Kang-cheol adjusted the rotation taking into account various factors, including this week’s six-game home game schedule when the LG Twins meet SSG and Cuevas’ physical strength.
However, something went wrong from the first game of the series. Go Young-pyo contributed 2 runs in the bottom of the first inning, but the team collapsed in the bottom of the 3rd inning as they gave up 4 runs, including Lim Byeong-wook’s 3-run shot. This season, the only game in which he gave more than 6 points was against Jamsil LG on May 18.
The batting line was also silent. After being able to score only 1 point against Kiwoom starter Jang Jae-young, they were unable to narrow the gap further as they only scored 1 point against a bullpen consisting of Yoon Seok-won, Park Seung-ju, Moon Seong-hyun, and Kim Jae-woong. In addition, Lee Ho-yeon, who had stepped up as a starting player, was replaced after being hit in the elbow by Jang Jae-young’s pitch, and was unable to play in the games on the 2nd and 3rd.
The trend continued until the next day. After causing a crisis with the bases loaded and no outs in the bottom of the first inning, starting pitcher Jeo Seong allowed a run due to Song Seong-moon’s sacrifice fly and Joo-hyung Lee’s 1 RBI and timely hit, and in the bottom of the 3rd inning, Song Seong-moon hit 1 RBI and timely hit. Final performance was 5 innings, 5 hits, 4 walks, 4 strikeouts, and 3 runs allowed. The batting line, which had three hits in nine innings, ended the game without scoring, and ultimately had to face a 0-3 loss.
Even considering the starting matchup between Min Kim and Ariel Jurado, the flow of the final game of the series was more one-sided than the previous two games. Min-I Kim, who was given the opportunity to start in place of Sang-Baek Eom, who left due to a micro-fracture in his ribs, retired from the mound early after giving up 6 runs (5 earned) on 6 hits, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts, and 3 strikeouts in 3 innings. Then, Yi-Hyun Cho gave up 1 run in 3 innings, allowing 5 hits, 1 walk, 2 walks, and 2 strikeouts. was minimized. However, the batting line failed to find a breakthrough, with Jurado giving up a no-hitter until 2 outs in the top of the 7th inning. KT, who accepted the result of a 0-7 complete defeat, could not avoid losing two consecutive games.
When playing baseball, there is a ‘cycle’ for both players and teams. There are good times and bad times, and the players and teams that overcome those times well are the ones who survive at the end. KT, which has maintained an upward trend for nearly two months, can also prevent its slump from prolonging if it wisely overcomes the current crisis.바카라
In the end, the most important thing for now is the result of this week’s six-game home game against LG-SSG. In particular, in the game against LG, the team’s reliable pitchers, including William Cuevas, Wes Benjamin, and Go Young-pyo, will be on the starting mound. Attention is being paid to whether KT, which wants to give its home fans as many wins as possible, will finish the six-game series smoothly.