'Volvolvolvol' Lee Ui-ri blew the save again in the 9th; Byun Woo-hyuk sealed it! KIA snatches a thrilling 4-3 comeback victory over top-ranked KT [Gwangju On-the-Ground Review]

*This content was translated by AI.

KIA Tigers closer Lee Ui-ri once again struggled with control and suffered a blown save. However, the grueling four-hour battle ended in the bottom of the 10th inning thanks to a powerful hit by Byun Woo-hyuk.

On the 4th, KIA defeated KT 4-3 in extra innings at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field during their 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League regular-season home game. The win snapped KT's three-game winning streak and lifted KIA to fourth place with a record of 64 wins, 2 ties, and 52 losses. KT fell to 69 wins, 3 ties, and 44 losses after their three-game winning streak was halted.

The turning point came in the bottom of the 10th inning. Against pitcher Ju Gwon, Park Jeong-woo and Jung Hyun-chang drew walks, and Kim Ho-ryung executed a sacrifice bunt to load the bases with one out. KT intentionally walked Han Jun-su, but Byun Woo-hyuk hit a massive ball that reached just in front of the center-field fence for a sacrifice fly, scoring one run and putting an end to the long contest.

It was a victory marred by lingering concerns. KIA had a chance to secure the win within regulation innings. However, with KIA leading 3-2 in the top of the 9th, reliever Lee Ui-ri surrendered consecutive hits to Heo Gyeong-min and Moon Sang-cheol, then induced a fielder's choice grounder from Kim Min-seok, putting himself in a one-out, bases-loaded situation.

Control issues struck again. Lee Ui-ri issued a walk to Kim Sang-soo and recorded a swinging strikeout against Jang Jun-won. However, he allowed a bases-loaded walk to Choi Won-jun, sending the game into extra innings. This marked his second consecutive blown save.

Until the top of the 7th inning, it was a perfect pitcher's duel. KIA starter Adam Oller pitched 6⅔ innings, allowing three hits and three walks while striking out ten batters and giving up only two earned runs. He held KT's lineup, which had scored 28 runs in their last three games against Hanwha, hitless through the first five innings.

KT starter Bae Je-seong was no pushover either. Bae threw 97 pitches, including a four-seam fastball clocked at up to 151 km/h (57 pitches), sliders (37 pitches), and forkballs (3 pitches). He recorded six innings of scoreless ball, allowing five hits and two walks while striking out five batters. This marked his first quality start in 1,079 days since a seven-inning scoreless outing against the Suwon Lotte Giants on September 21, 2023.

On this day, KIA lined up Park Jae-hyun (left field), Harold Castro (first base), Kim Do-young (third base), Na Sung-beom (right field), Kim Sun-bin (designated hitter), Lee Ho-yeon (second base), Kim Ho-ryung (center field), Kim Tae-gun (catcher), and Ha Joo-seok (shortstop). Adam Oller was the starting pitcher.

KT countered with Choi Won-jun (right field), Kim Hyun-su (first base), Ahn Hyeon-min (designated hitter), Sam Hilliard (center field), Heo Gyeong-min (third base), Jang Jin-hyuk (left field), Oh Yun-seok (second base), Jo Dae-hyun (catcher), and Kwon Dong-jin (shortstop). Bae Je-seong was the starting pitcher.

The early game unfolded as a pitchers' duel. In particular, Oller struck out Heo Gyeong-min in the top of the 5th inning, retiring all nine KT batters at least once via strikeout. This marked the first time this season that a starter retired every batter in the opposing lineup by strikeout, and it was the seventh such occurrence in KIA franchise history and the 46th in KBO League history. In KIA's history, Seong Dong-yeol achieved this feat three times, Lee Dae-jin twice, and Lee Dong-hyun once.

The most recent team record was set by Lee Dong-hyun on October 5, 2004, against Gwangju Hanwha. In the entire KBO League, the last such performance was by SSG's Kim Geon-woo in an the 23rd game against Incheon KIA last year.

Bae Je-seong delivered equally steady pitching. Focusing on his four-seam fastball clocked at up to 151 km/h (57 pitches), he also threw sliders (37 pitches) and forkballs (3 pitches), totaling 97 pitches.

KIA repeatedly created scoring opportunities against Bae but failed to capitalize. In the bottom of the 2nd inning, Na Sung-beom led off with a single up the middle, followed by Kim Sun-bin drawing a walk to load the bases with no outs. However, Lee Ho-yeon grounded out on the first pitch, Kim Ho-ryung struck out looking, and Kim Tae-gun grounded to second base, ending the threat.

In the top of the 3rd inning with two outs and a runner on first, Kim Do-young hit a double that struck the upper portion of the left-field fence. However, Na Sung-beom could not bring him home due to an infield fly out. In the bottom of the 6th inning with two outs, Lee Ho-yeon hit a triple down the right-field line, but Kim Ho-ryung was thrown out on a right-field fly ball, completing Bae's quality start.

KT broke the tight balance first by scoring two runs in the top of the 7th inning. Heo Gyeong-min hit an infield single to center-left field, and Jang Jin-hyuk drew a walk after a full count. Substitute batter Kim Min-hyuk also drew a walk, loading the bases. Substitute batter Kim Sang-soo then hit a two-run, go-ahead double down the center-left field gap, finally breaking the 0-0 deadlock.

KIA responded immediately. Against pitcher Sugimoto Kyoya, Castro led off with an infield single up the middle, and Kim Do-young drew a walk. Na Sung-beom struck out on three pitches, but Kim Sun-bin endured a grueling 12-pitch at-bat to draw a walk, loading the bases with one out. KT quickly brought in Son Dong-hyun, but he could not stop the momentum. Lee Ho-yeon then drew a bases-loaded walk to cut the deficit to 1-2. Kim Ho-ryung struck out swinging, leaving two outs and bases loaded.

Han Jun-su then hit a sharp, two-run, go-ahead double that grazed the first-base bag and dropped down the right-field line. In an instant, KIA took a 3-2 lead. Although substitute runner Jung Hyun-chang was thrown out at home plate while trying to score, the game had already turned in KIA's favor. Lee Ui-ri later recorded a blown save, but KIA managed to regain control and narrowed the gap with the league leaders.

Meanwhile, Kim Do-young went 1-for-3 with two walks and one strikeout on this day, failing to reach his 40th home run of the season. After striking out swinging in his first at-bat of the 1st inning, he raised expectations in the 3rd inning with a massive double that struck the upper portion of the left-field fence. According to Hawk-Eye, the ball was hit at 174.47 km/h and traveled 107.58 meters at an exit angle of 18.01 degrees, but it did not clear the fence.

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*This content was translated by AI.