"The day we broke the 1st million fan mark for the first time since our founding, we clinched the championship!" KT secures regular season lead for the first time in five years... Jang Jun-won hits 2 home runs + Logan strikes out 14 → Lotte crushed 9-0

*This content was translated by AI.

KT Wiz celebrated a double milestone on the day they surpassed 10 thousand won home fans for the first time since their founding, also clinching the regular season lead for the first time in five years. Led by Logan Allen's (29) dominant performance with 14 strikeouts and Jang Jun-won's (31) multi-home run display, KT thoroughly defeated the Lotte Giants to secure a direct ticket to the Korea Series for the second time in franchise history.

On the 5th, KT recorded a decisive 9-0 victory over the Lotte Giants in a regular season home game at Suwon KT Wiz Park in the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League.

Riding a six-game winning streak, KT improved to a record of 86 wins, 5 draws, and 49 losses. On the same day, second-place Samsung Lions lost to the Doosan Bears 5-7, dropping to 82 wins, 3 draws, and 54 losses, widening the gap between the two teams to 4.5 games.

With this, KT has secured the regular season lead regardless of the results in their remaining games. Even if Samsung wins all five of its remaining games, its final winning percentage will be 0.617. In contrast, KT, with four games left, will maintain a winning percentage of 0.619 even if it loses them all.

KT's regular season lead is the second in franchise history and the first since 2021, five years ago. The team joined the KBO League in 2015. At that time, after defeating Samsung in a historic first-place tiebreaker game to claim the top spot, KT went on to win the Korea Series, achieving its first integrated championship in franchise history.

It was indeed a double celebration. On this day, KT drew 18,700 spectators, successfully surpassing the 1st million fan mark for a single season for the first time since their founding. Having recorded a cumulative total of 985,572 fans through the game against Lotte on the previous day (the 4th), KT achieved its 28th sellout of the season and its fourth consecutive sold-out game, bringing the cumulative attendance to 1,004,272. As the 10th team in KBO League history, this is the first time KT has surpassed 10 thousand won fans in a single season, marking the eighth instance among all KBO League franchises in history.

On this day, KT's batting lineup consisted of Choi Won-jun (center fielder) - Kim Hyun-soo (first baseman) - Ahn Hyun-min (right fielder) - Sam Hilliard (left fielder) - Jang Sung-woo (designated hitter) - Kim Sang-su (second baseman) - Heo Kyung-min (third baseman) - Han Seung-taek (catcher) - Jang Jun-won (shortstop). The starting pitcher was Logan Allen.

In response, Lotte's lineup featured Victor Reyes (left fielder) - Na Seung-yeop (first baseman) - Ko Seung-min (second baseman) - Han Dong-hee (third baseman) - Jeon Min-jae (shortstop) - Son Seong-bin (catcher) - Jeon Jun-woo (designated hitter) - Jo Se-jin (right fielder) - Yoon Dong-hee (center fielder). The starting pitcher was Kim Jin-wook.

The outcome was decided early on. In the bottom of the first inning, leadoff batter Choi Won-jun hit a double down the left-field line, and Kim Hyun-soo followed with an infield single to right, creating a one-out, runners-on-first-and-third situation. Hilliard drove in the first run with a large two-run double into right field. Jang Sung-woo drew a walk to load the bases, and Kim Sang-su widened the lead with a two-run double into left field.

Following this, Han Seung-taek scored on an infield hit for one run, and Jang Jun-won hit a three-run home run to left field, making it seven runs in just the first inning. Later, KT added to its lead with Jang Jun-won's solo home run to left field in the bottom of the sixth inning and Ahn Hyun-min's solo home run to center field in the bottom of the seventh, completing a 9-0 victory.

KT starting pitcher Logan pitched eight innings, allowing seven hits, no walks or strikeouts, striking out 14 batters while scoring zero runs, securing his seventh win (five losses) of the season. On the offensive side, Ahn Hyun-min went 2-for-4 with one home run, one RBI, and one run scored; Kim Sang-su went 1-for-3 with two RBIs and one run scored; and Han Seung-taek went 2-for-3 with one RBI and one run scored. Jang Jun-won was the star of the day, going 2-for-3 with two home runs, four RBIs, and two runs scored.

Lotte starter Kim Jin-wook pitched four innings, allowing nine hits (including one home run), one walk, striking out one batter, and giving up seven runs, marking his ninth loss (six wins) of the season. Coincidentally, Choi Won-jun and Reyes, who are competing for the most hits title, each added two hits on this day as well, maintaining a tie for the lead with 199 hits.

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*This content was translated by AI.