'95.2% chance of winning the title' KT claims first 80 wins in franchise history! Hilliard's 39th home run, Daniel's 10 strikeouts... Magic number '9'

*This content was translated by AI.

KT Wiz of the KBO League shrugged off NC Dinos' late-season surge to reach 80 wins first, securing a 95.2% probability of winning the regular season title.

On the 24th, KT defeated NC 3-2 in a nail-biting victory at SuwonKT Wiz Park during their 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League regular-season home game.

With this win, KT improved to 80 wins, 4 ties, and 48 losses, achieving the franchise's first-ever 80-win season. As the youngest club in the KBO since its debut in the first division in 2015, KT had reached 81 wins in 2020 and 80 wins in 2022 but never claimed the milestone first. In their only championship season, 2021, they finished with 76 wins, 9 ties, and 59 losses, falling short of 80 wins.

Historically, teams that reached 80 wins first in the KBO League had a 95.2% (20 out of 21 times) chance of winning the regular season title and a 76.2% (16 out of 21 times) chance of winning the Korean Series.

Learning from last year's painful failure to reach the postseason, the front office developed an off-season strategy and focused heavily on player acquisitions. With strong support from the group, KT invested a total of 10.8 billion won in the FA market this past winter: 3 years for 5 billion won with Kim Hyun-soo (38), 4 years for 4.8 billion won with Choi Won-jun (29), and 4 years for 1 billion won with Han Seung-taek (32).

This investment dramatically transformed the starting lineup, leading to a major success. Choi Won-jun secured the leadoff spot with his top-tier batting performance, while veteran Kim Hyun-soo anchored the lineup's core and served as a locker room leader both on and off the field. Han Seung-taek addressed the team's weakness in stolen base prevention, giving them an advantage against agile opponents.

The club also showed no fear of change in its foreign player roster. After replacing all foreign players with new faces, when Caleb Boshly and Matt Sauer fell into injury and poor form, timely replacements were made to find new momentum. Hilliard was the only one who held his ground; after overcoming an initial adjustment period, he displayed explosive hitting power and rose as a MVP candidate.

Foreign players shone once again today. Hilliard went 1-for-3 with one home run, one walk, one stolen base, one RBI, and two runs scored. In the bottom of the second inning, after watching three pitches from Song Myeong-gi, Hilliard drove a high four-seam fastball clocked at 147 km/h over the right-field fence for a home run.

With this home run, Hilliard extended his RBI streak to four consecutive games, reaching 122 RBIs and tying Austin for first place in that category. His 39 home runs also tied him with Austin for second place overall. The gap between him and Kim Do-young, who leads with 40 home runs, is now just one.

In his next at-bat, he contributed to scoring by leveraging his speed, a key strength. In the bottom of the fourth inning with one out, Hilliard drew a walk after a full-count battle. He then successfully stole second base. Following walks by Kim Hyun-soo and a hit-by-pitch by Ryu Hyeon-in that moved him to third base, he scored on an error by reliever Lee Jun-hyuk. Kim Sang-su added an RBI with a sacrifice fly to center field, extending KT's lead to 3-0.

Meanwhile, starting pitcher Daniel Davis delivered a quality start plus (seven innings or more with one earned run or fewer), allowing three hits and one walk while striking out ten batters over seven scoreless innings, laying the foundation for the team's victory.

There were also moments of danger. In the top of the ninth inning, with KT leading 3-0, closer Kim Jeong-won, recently appointed as the replacement for Park Young-hyun, took the mound. He walked Hong Jong-pyo and allowed a two-run double to Kim Hwi-jip, putting himself in a one-out, bases-loaded situation. After getting Do Tae-hoon out with a fly ball to center field, he surrendered a two-run pinch-hit single to Blaine Cream toward left field. Although he appeared shaky after walking pinch-hitter Ahn Jung-yeol, he struck out Kim Hyung-jun on a swing-and-miss to record his second save of the season.

KT's magic number is now 9. On the same day, second-place Samsung Lions defeated SSG Landers 5-4, maintaining a three-game lead, while third-place LG Twins lost 6-4 to Lotte Giants, widening their gap to 6.5 games behind.

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*This content was translated by AI.