The “lowest” Kiwoom Heroes are doing their best in every game until the end of the season. Although the team has lost four consecutive games recently, Kiwoom has displayed amazing performances. And the opposing pitcher Ko Young-pyo (33), the ace of the Korean national team, has not spared no praise.
Kiwoom lost 7-10 in an away game between KT and 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League at KT Wiz Park in Suwon on the 28th.안전놀이터
Kiwoom, which lost on the day, remained at the bottom of the league with 58 wins and 85 losses while playing 143 games. It has four games to beat the NC Dinos, which are ninth in the league, which have lost six consecutive games.
Kiwoom had Kim Tae-jin (striker), Lee Ju-hyung (designated hitter), Song Seong-moon (third baseman), Choi Joo-hwan (first baseman), Kim Gun-hee (catcher), Jang Jae-young (right fielder), Park Joo-hong (left fielder) and Park Soo-jong (center fielder). The starting pitcher was right-handed Cho Young-gun. Kim Hye-seong was excluded from the starting lineup due to fatigue accumulation.
In fact, before the game, it was true that the weight was also put on KT in the selection fight. This is because KT started with foreign ace Benjamin. In addition, KT’s dominance was expected in terms of motivation.
However, when I opened the lid, Kiwoom’s attack power was even fiercer than expected. Kiwoom showed strong firepower by tapping Benjamin from the beginning of the game. Although Kiwoom gave up one run first in the bottom of the first inning, it made it 6-1 by picking up two runs in every inning from the second to the fourth inning.
In the second inning, leadoff hitter Choi Joo-hwan got on base with a right-handed hit, and after one out, Jang Jae-young hit Benjamin’s fifth fastball with a ball count of 2-2, and fired a two-run shot over the left fence. It was Jang’s fourth homer of this season.
Kiwoom also showed off its concentration in the third inning. With two outs and no runners on base, Song Sung-moon drew a walk after Lee Ju-hyung got on base with a double that fell inside the right-field line. Choi Joo-hwan then hit a timely hit to the right-center field, bringing the second baseman Lee Ju-hyung home. Following Kim, Kim Geon-hee succeeded in a straight walk. Jang Jae-young, who had previously hit a home run, drew a pushy walk at the fifth pitch, making it 4-1. Kim Byung-hwi followed by a flyout to shortstop.
Kiwoom allowed two more runs in the fourth inning. After one out, Park Su-jong walked to get on base, and Hwang Jae-gyun’s throw to the second base missed when Kim Tae-jin grounded out to the third base, making it to the first and third bases. Lee Ju-hyung then hit a timely hit to center field. Finally, Benjamin couldn’t hold it anymore and handed over the mound to Sovereign. Sovereign sent out Song Seong-moon with a fly ball to left field, but Choi Joo-hwan hit a timely hit to left, widening the score gap to 1-6. Here, KT replaced the pitcher with Ko Young-pyo. Ko finished the inning by striking out Kim Gun-hee.
From the fifth to the eighth inning, Kiwoom lost 13 consecutive hitters from Ko Young-pyo, and managed to swallow its disappointment. In the meantime, the team allowed KT to score points and come from behind to lose 6-10. Still, in the top of the ninth inning, Kiwoom made a timely hit off pitcher Park Young-hyun, who was replaced with a runner on the second base with two outs, and successfully stole the second base. Choi Joo-hwan, however, only grounded out to the first base, and managed to swallow his disappointment.
On the same day, Kiwoom’s starter Cho Young-gun pitched one inning after three innings (39 pitches in total) with three hits, one walk, one strikeout and four runs (four earned), followed by Kim Sun-ki, Park Seung-joo, Kim Dong-hyuk, Kim Dong-wook and Park Yoon-sung. In the eight-hit lineup, Choi Joo-hwan had three hits and Lee Ju-hyung had multi-hitters, respectively.
Kiwoom did not lose in vain in the game against KT on the 27th as it did on the same day. After an extra-inning battle that lasted until the 12th inning, the team lost by 7-8 and one point, but showed a chewy game like the postseason. Although starter Jeon Joon-pyo was shaken by five runs in three ⅓ innings at the time, eight bullpen pitchers followed by pitched salty water that blocked eight ⅓ innings with three runs.
Go Young-pyo, the opposing pitcher, also praised Kiwoom’s performance. “There are a lot of very good prospects in raising Kiwoom. It is also fair play that Kiwoom players work so hard until the final game. As a professional player, I want to applaud him in that regard. We also need to win in that way to be meaningful and proud. We don’t want to lose strength. We are grateful for that and want to applaud him for his hard work throughout the season,” Go said.
Now KT must support Kiwoom. If Kiwoom holds SSG on the 30th, KT will advance to the wild card game. “We left it to the heaven, and we had a lot of Kiwoom fans and KT fans. I think that will give us more motivation in that regard. The SSG match will also be played in front of a lot of fans. I think we will do well while receiving such support. If promising players cheer up and win well, we will be thankful and cheer for them,” Ko said with a smile.
“Actually, I didn’t think about that while playing the game. While pitching today, I focused only on one pitch and one pitch. I didn’t even think about the next inning, the next batter or the next ball. Now we have to watch, so we have to wait and see,” he said, promising the next time.