A batter with only 45 at-bats hits a walk-off home run! Why is there high expectation for KT, the team leading the race just before the decisive match, even though its main power hitter with '30 home runs and 99 RBIs' is absent?

*This content was translated by AI.

There is a team that shows no signs of despair even though the foreign hitter responsible for 30 home runs and 99 RBIs is gone. That team is KT Wiz, where a new hero appears every day.

KT will play a three-game weekend series against Samsung Lions at Daegu Samsung Lions Park starting from the 28th as part of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League regular season.

Before the match on the 28th, KT sits in first place with a record of 66 wins, 3 draws, and 42 losses, leading second-place Samsung (67 wins, 3 draws, 44 losses) by 0.5 games. This is a head-to-head matchup where the initiative in the late-season race for first place hangs in the balance. In the first game, KT has announced left-handed pitcher Oh Won-seok (25), while Samsung has announced right-handed pitcher Kim Baek-san (23) as their starting pitchers.

Oh Won-seok recorded 18 games played this season with a record of 5 wins and 7 losses and an ERA of 6.25, but he performed relatively well against Samsung in two games with an ERA of 3.97. Kim Baek-san recorded 1 win and 1 loss with an ERA of 3.38 in three first-division games this year.

KT is not heading to Daegu with its full strength. In fact, the lineup has its biggest hole. The main power hitter, Sam Hilliard (32), left for a family leave due to his second child's birth. Hilliard led the KT lineup this season with a batting average of 0.298 (128 hits in 430 at-bats) in 110 games, along with 30 home runs, 99 RBIs, and 7 stolen bases. His on-base percentage was 0.368, slugging percentage 0.560, and OPS 0.928. Hilliard will be absent from the match against Samsung starting yesterday (the 27th) through this weekend's three-game series and is scheduled to return next week.

Coincidentally, just as Hilliard left, a player announced his presence in the most dramatic way: backup outfielder Jang Jin-hyeok (33). In the previous day's match against Suwon Doosan Bears, KT fell into extra innings tied 4-4 after giving up a tying three-run home run to Yang Eui-ji in the eighth inning. At the same time, second-place Samsung crushed Kiwoom Heroes 15-2. Had KT lost, they could have been heading to Daegu while having surrendered first place.

Jang Jin-hyeok stepped up as the leadoff hitter in the bottom of the 11th extra inning. After drawing three balls on Lee Yong-chan's fastball, he did not miss a 146 km/h fastball that came right down the middle. The ball flew over the right-field wall, ending the 3rd-hour and 34-minute contest immediately. It was Jang Jin-hyeok's second home run of the season and his first walk-off home run in his debut. Thanks to this, KT won 5-4 and boarded the bus for Daegu while maintaining first place.

Expecting a walk-off home run was not easy. Before the game, Jang Jin-hyeok had been a thorough backup who played in only 42 games with just 40 at-bats this year. There were rarely any open spots in the outfield where Choi Won-jun (29), Hilliard, and Ahn Hyun-min held their ground. However, due to Hilliard's parental leave, he got his first starting opportunity after 11 days and converted it into a walk-off home run, the first of his baseball career.

The same happened the day before on the 26th against Suwon Doosan. In that game, veteran Kim Hyun-soo hit a two-run walk-off single with two outs and bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning while trailing 3-4, giving KT a 5-4 comeback victory. It was a delicate walk-off hit that just barely cleared second base. Although it was another 5-4 walk-off win on consecutive days, the protagonist was different.

This is why KT's match against Samsung is still expected even with the absence of main power hitter Hilliard. Samsung also showed a hot lineup, hitting 20 hits and scoring 15 runs in their match against Kiwoom the previous day. Objectively, Hilliard's absence is clearly a negative factor for KT.

However, during periods when the weight of a single game becomes heavy, such as in the race for first place, an unexpected performance by one player can shake the entire series. Even without Hilliard, KT has key players like Kim Hyun-soo, Ahn Hyun-min, and Choi Won-jun to hold the line, and behind them, players like Jang Jin-hyeok who can decide the outcome even with limited opportunities are emerging.

KT climbed back to first place after pulling down Samsung on the 1st and has been engaged in a fierce race for first place for nearly a month since then. Just before this most important head-to-head matchup, two different magicians appeared on consecutive days.

It is rare to find a team that fits its name so well. A "Magician Corps" where another protagonist appears somewhere even when the main power hitter is absent. This is the strength KT relies on even in the three-game series in Daegu without Hilliard.

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*This content was translated by AI.