'Lee Yong-gyu Drunk Driving → Dishonorable Retirement' Kiwoom Wins Two Straight! What a Coincidence, Coach Jang Young-seok to Be Registered Tomorrow (14th) "Administrative Error"

*This content was translated by AI.

Before the shockwave from playing coach Lee Yong-gyu's drunk driving incident had even subsided, an administrative error compounded the turmoil within the Kiwoom Heroes. Yet, the players on the field displayed their focus and secured a valuable two-game winning streak. It was a precious victory achieved at a remarkably coincidental timing.

On the 13th, Kiwoom secured a comeback victory with a 3-1 score against the Hanwha Eagles in a home game at Gocheok Sky Dome in Guro-gu, Seoul, as part of the '2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League'. Although they trailed 0-1, they turned the game around. With this win, Kiwoom early secured a weekend winning series against Hanwha, extending their winning streak to two games.

On this day, Kiwoom started Alcantara, while Hanwha sent right-handed pitcher Park Jun-young to the mound, leading to a tense pitching duel. The 0-0 deadlock was broken in the fifth inning. In the bottom of the fifth, Hanwha took the lead with a sacrifice fly by Pera from a two-out, second-base situation created by Lee Do-yoon's infield hit and Sim Woo-jun's sacrifice bunt.

However, Kiwoom's counterattack followed immediately. After Choi Ju-hwan was retired in the bottom of the fifth, Kim Geon-hee crushed the third pitch from Hanwha starter Park Jun-young—a 123 km/h changeup—launching a massive 125-meter solo home run to the left-field seats (his sixth of the season). It was a thrilling blow that ended Park Jun-young's no-hit bid.

Riding the momentum, Kiwoom seized control in the bottom of the seventh. Following a single by Choi Ju-hwan to right field and a walk by Yeo Dong-wook, creating a two-out, first-and-second-base opportunity, Won Seong-jun hit a sacrifice fly to right field, successfully taking a 2-1 lead. Then, in the bottom of the eighth, taking advantage of a throwing error by opposing pitcher Jung Woo-ju to first base, Park Soo-jong crossed home plate, extending the lead to 3-1 and sealing the victory.

While the game result was sweet, the atmosphere both inside and outside the Kiwoom organization remained chaotic up until the game. This was because playing coach Lee Yong-gyu had declared a dishonorable retirement after causing a drunk driving accident on the 12th, in which he injured a police officer while driving under the influence, resulting in the revocation of his license.

Compounding the situation, an administrative error occurred while the organization attempted to fill the coaching staff vacancy. Kiwoom urgently called up Jang Young-seok, the Futures League hitting coach, to the first division to fill Lee Yong-gyu's spot. Coach Jang Young-seok joined the first-division squad for training prior to the game and led the players normally, but he could not be seen in the dugout once the game began. This was due to a staff member's oversight that omitted the registration procedure for the first-division roster.

A Kiwoom official explained, "Due to an error by the staff member in charge, the registration procedure for Coach Jang Young-seok to the first-division roster was overlooked. We plan to properly register Coach Jang Young-seok to the first division ahead of tomorrow's (14th) game."

On a day when a shocking departure of a key coach and a massive administrative blunder occurred in succession, Kiwoom coincidentally completed a two-game winning streak with a thrilling comeback victory. Under the command of Manager Seol Jong-jin, the players have united to turn a crisis into an opportunity. However, it appears it will take some time to fully recover from the aftermath of the coaching staff restructuring and the chaotic atmosphere.

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*This content was translated by AI.