'Samsung's seven-game losing streak' finally broken by Kiwoom, defeats Samsung after 88 days! Yuto’s 2 innings of scoreless iron-clad pitching → Won Jong-hyun secures save [Gocheok on-site review]

*This content was translated by AI.

Kiwoom Heroes finally snapped the long, arduous chain of seven consecutive losses against Samsung Lions.

On the 22nd, Kiwoom defeated Samsung 3-1 in a home game at Gocheok Sky Dome in Guro-gu, Seoul, during the '2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League'. They scored three runs with focused offense in the bottom of the 5th inning and held on to secure the victory.

With this win, Kiwoom escaped the nightmare of seven straight losses against Samsung and claimed a precious victory. In fact, early in the season, Kiwoom had been strong against Samsung. From the 24th to 26, they swept all three home games against Samsung at Gocheok by starting Bae Dong-hyun, Ha Young-min, and 'monster rookie' Park Jun-hyun in succession. However, their winning streak against Samsung abruptly ended after that. After a three-game winning streak, Kiwoom suffered seven consecutive losses and struggled with the disadvantage against Samsung. With today's win, they enjoyed the joy of victory against Samsung for the first time since April 26 — an 88-day gap.

For this game, Kiwoom set their starting lineup as follows: Seo Geon-chang (second baseman), Choo Jae-hyun (center fielder), Davison (first baseman), Hyu-ra (left fielder), Kim Woong-bin (designated hitter), Park Chan-hyuk (right fielder), Kim Geon-hee (catcher), Kwon Hyeok-bin (shortstop), and Yeo Dong-wook (third baseman). Starting pitcher was Raul Alcantara.

Samsung countered with the following lineup: Kim Ji-chan (center fielder), Kim Sung-yoon (right fielder), Koo Ja-wook (left fielder), Choi Hyung-woo (designated hitter), Diaz (first baseman), Ryu Ji-hyuk (second baseman), Lee Jae-hyun (shortstop), Kim Young-woong (third baseman), and Kim Do-hwan (catcher). Their starting pitcher was Kim Baek-san.

Today's game unfolded as a pitchers' duel. The score remained 0-0 through the top of the 4th inning, but the momentum shifted from the 5th. Kiwoom starter Alcantara felt pain in his right elbow while facing leadoff batter Lee Jae-hyun and voluntarily requested to be removed from the mound. Although Samsung had a scoring opportunity with one out and a runner on second base in the top of the 5th, they could not capitalize against reliever Park Ji-sung.

Then Kiwoom broke the scoreless tie first. In the bottom of the 5th, leadoff batter Kim Woong-bin crushed Samsung starter Kim Baek-san's fourth pitch (a 125 km/h slider) over the left-center field fence for a massive solo home run traveling 125 meters, seizing early control. This was Kim Woong-bin's fifth home run of the season and his second consecutive game with an arching hit.

Following up, Park Chan-hyuk extended the opportunity with a two-run double down the left-center field line after a full-count battle lasting seven pitches. Although next batter Kim Geon-hee struck out swinging, eighth batter Kwon Hyeok-bin delivered a sacrifice fly to left field, bringing runner Park Chan-hyuk home from second base. Kiwoom took a 2-0 lead at that moment.

Riding the momentum, Kiwoom's Yeo Dong-wook drew a walk after a grueling nine-pitch battle, creating a one-out situation with runners on first and second. Samsung then attempted to extinguish the threat by replacing their pitcher with Bae Chan-seung.

But Kiwoom's momentum did not stop. Seo Geon-chang added a single up the middle, creating a bases-loaded opportunity with one out. Choo Jae-hyun unfortunately struck out on three pitches, making it two outs. However, in Davison's at-bat, reliever Bae Chan-seung committed a wild pitch. During that play, the runner from third base scored, extending Kiwoom's lead to 3-0.

Samsung managed to score one run in the top of the 7th with bases loaded. Leadoff batter Kim Young-woong drew a walk, followed by pinch-hitter Kim Hyun-jun who hit a single to left field, placing runners on first and second. Next, Kim Ji-chan walked, creating a bases-loaded situation with no outs.

Kiwoom brought in Yuto to replace Jo Young-geon. Samsung's Kim Sung-yoon hit a ground ball to the shortstop that resulted in a double play. During the play, runner Kim Young-woong from third base scored, cutting the deficit to 3-1. However, that was all. Next batter Koo Ja-wook struck out swinging, preventing any further scoring. For Samsung, settling for narrowing the gap from 0-3 to 1-3 had to be enough.

Kiwoom starter Alcantara recorded four innings with three hits allowed and no runs before leaving the mound early due to elbow pain. The bullpen — consisting of Park Ji-sung, Kim Sung-min, Jo Young-geon, Yuto, and Won Jong-hyun — surrendered one earned run in total. Notably, Yuto delivered a perfect two-inning scoreless performance. Kim Woong-bin went 2-for-4 with one home run and one RBI, while Choo Jae-hyun added firepower with 2-for-3 hitting. Samsung's Choi Hyung-woo was the only player to record multiple hits (2-for-4), but his effort could not prevent the loss.

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*This content was translated by AI.