KT defeated Hanwha and achieved 10 consecutive winning series.
KT won an away match against Hanwha in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League held at Daejeon Hanwha Life Eagles Park on the 20th, 3-0. 안전놀이터
Starting pitcher William Cuevas, who returned to KT as a substitute in June, struck out 11 strikeouts, the most this season, and pitched 7 scoreless innings. They continued their undefeated streak by winning their 7th win in 11 games of the season. 7 individual wins in a row. In the other lineup, he showed his concentration by scoring 3 runs in the 7th inning, including Sang-Cheol Moon’s final home run.
KT, who won the winning series against Hanwha with 2 consecutive wins after 1 loss, recently succeeded in 10 consecutive winning series, starting with the match against Gocheok Kiwoom on the 11th and 13th of last month. In 2005 and 2010, Samsung approached the record of 11 consecutive winning series, which was recorded twice.
KT, who continued the storm momentum with 21 wins and 5 losses (win rate of .808) in the second half, kept the second place with 58 wins, 46 losses and 2 draws. 8th place Hanwha, who suffered two consecutive losses, recorded 42 wins, 55 losses and 6 draws. The opponent record this season was also balanced by KT with a tie of 5 wins, 5 losses and 1 draw.
KT starting pitcher Cuevas overwhelms Hanwha’s batting line. He won his 7th win of the season with 7 innings, 3 hits, 11 strikeouts and no runs. The average ERA was also lowered from 3.13 to 2.81. Since returning to KT as a substitute player in June, he has been undefeated in 11 games. KT recorded 9 wins and 2 losses on the day Cuevas came out as a starter, with a win rate of 80.1 8.
In the first inning, Hanwha No. 1 Moon Hyun-bin hit the start, but Nick Williams, Noh Si-hwan, and Chae Eun-seong struck out three times in a row. With the changeup, fastball, and cutter, the strikeout pitches were all different. The commands across the left and right borders stood out. In the 2nd inning, Cuevas, who struck out Lee Jin-young with a slider on his side and struck out, was hit by a double in the middle month by Moon Hyun-bin after 2 outs in the 3rd inning, but Williams induced a grounder to 1st base with a high cutter on his body.
In the 4th inning, he committed a three-way offense with 7 balls. Roh Si-hwan and Chae Eun-seong successively handled a ground ball to third base and a floating ball to left field with their first pitches, then struck out looking Kim Tae-yeon with a slider on the inside. In the 5th inning, the lead batter went to first base due to a throwing error by third baseman Hwang Jae-kyun, but Park Sang-eon struck out with a two-seam and Lee Do-yoon with a change-up on the first out and second base.
In the 6th inning, Williams got one hit, but Moon Hyun-bin and Chae Eun-seong struck out with sharp cutters. In the 7th inning with a 3-point lead, he struck out Lee Jin-young and Choi In-ho and showed off his power with a tripartite strike. 97 total pitches, 67 strikes and 30 balls. In addition to fastballs (26) with a maximum of 149 km and an average of 147 km, he evenly used cutters (36), sliders (19) and changeups (16).
Hanwha starting pitcher Felix Pena also gave up only two hits until the 6th inning and overpowered the KT lineup with no runs. He had a tight pitching battle with Cuevas, demonstrating his power with a dancing changeup, but a home run by Moon Sang-cheol in the 7th broke the balance of 0. Pena’s 149km fastball, which came low from the outside of the 6th pitch, passed over the right wall. Distance 115m, season 8 home run.
In the continued attack, KT continued the chance to second base with Oh Yoon-seok’s left-handed hit and Kim Sang-su’s shortstop ground ball. Here, after a 7-ball full count game, Bae Jung-dae hit a 1 RBI double in the left field and defeated Pena.
Hanwha pitcher Kim Bum-soo, who followed Min-hyeok Kim at bat, threw a wild pitch and took 1 out and 3 base. Here, Kim Min-hyuk’s squeeze bunt appeared in front of the pitcher. A situation in which the inning ends with a double out to the runner on third base. But at this moment, an unexpected mistake occurred. It was good until Kim Bum-soo caught it, but he slipped and lost his balance while throwing to third base, and the throw fell to the side of third baseman Noh Si-hwan. In the meantime, the assigned team that was in the middle of the third base and the home came quickly to the home after taking the third base. The moment when the score widened to 3-0 and gave KT a chance to win.
Following Cuevas, Young-Hyeon Park in the 8th and Jae-Yoon Kim in the 9th prevented no runs and kept the lead. Park Young-heo-eun had 25th hold of the season, and Kim Jae-yoon had 22nd save. Hanwha starter Pena suffered his 7th loss (8 wins) of the season with 5 hits (1 home run), 3 walks, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts and 3 runs (2 earned) in 6⅓ innings.