'Six runs allowed in the first inning: A disaster' — KT collapses again! Samsung's 19-year-old rookie delivers a stunning performance, Lee Jae-hee shuts down opponents for 2⅔ innings; just one win away from the championship [KS4 On-Site Review]

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

The Samsung Lions shook off the KT Wiz's pursuit, leaving them just one win away from the Korea Series (KS) championship. On the other hand, KT, who finished first in the regular season, found themselves in a position where they must challenge a miracle with a historical probability of only 5.3%.

Samsung defeated KT 10-5 in Game 4 of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO Postseason Korea Series (best-of-seven) held on the 7th at Daegu Samsung Lions Park. With this victory, Samsung has won three consecutive games after losing Game 1, taking a 3-1 series lead. They are now just one win away from their first Korea Series championship in 12 years since 2014.

Their probability of winning the championship has also risen to 94.7%. In the history of the 43rd Korea Series, there have been a total of 19 instances where a team led 3-1 after Game 4. Of those, the team leading 3-1 won the final championship in 18 cases.

Conversely, KT must dream of a 5.3% miracle. There has been only one instance in history where a team trailing 1-3 came back to win the championship. Coincidentally, their current opponent, Samsung, is that team. In 2013, Samsung, trailing the Doosan Bears 1-3, won Games 5, 6, and 7 with scores of 7-5, 6-2, and 7-3, respectively, to claim the title.

The game diverged significantly from the start in the battle between the starting pitchers. Samsung's 2026 rookie Jang Chan-hee (19) delivered an impressive performance beyond expectations in his first Korea Series start, pitching four innings with two hits allowed (one home run), two walks, one strikeout, and one earned run. Lee Jae-hee, who entered as the fourth pitcher, also blocked KT's pursuit with a perfect pitch of four strikeouts over 2⅓ innings without allowing a single runner on base.

On the other hand, KT starter Logan Allen collapsed, pitching one inning with five hits allowed, four walks and hit-by-pitches (three walks, one hit-by-pitch), and six runs allowed. Logan, who had struggled in Game 1 as a reliever with two runs allowed in one-third of an inning, left much to be desired again in his return to the starting rotation for Game 4. Subsequent pitchers also wavered: Bae Jae-sung pitched 1⅔ innings with one hit allowed, three walks and hit-by-pitches, one strikeout, and one run allowed, while Oh Won-seok pitched 2⅓ innings with one hit allowed, two walks, three strikeouts, and two runs allowed.

Samsung attacked the KT mound by recording 11 hits and 12 walks and hit-by-pitches. Park Seung-gyu led the offense with three hits in four at-bats, three RBIs, and one run scored, while Koo Ja-wook contributed with two hits in four at-bats and one RBI.

On this day, Samsung fielded its starting lineup in the following order: Kim Ji-chan (center fielder), Park Seung-gyu (right fielder), Koo Ja-wook (designated hitter), Choi Hyeong-woo (left fielder), Lewin Diaz (first baseman), Kim Young-woong (third baseman), Lee Jae-hyeon (shortstop), Ryu Ji-hyuk (second baseman), and Kim Do-hwan (catcher). Jang Chan-hee was the starting pitcher.

In response, KT countered with Choi Won-jun (designated hitter), Jang Jin-hyuk (left fielder), Ahn Hyun-min (right fielder), Sam Hilliard (center fielder), Kim Hyun-soo (first baseman), Kim Sang-su (second baseman), Heo Kyung-min (third baseman), Han Seung-taek (catcher), and Jang Jun-won (shortstop). Logan took the mound as the starter.

KT scored first. In the top of the first inning with one out, Jang Jin-hyuk hit a lead-off solo home run over the right-field fence off Jang Chan-hee's fourth pitch fastball. However, Samsung immediately turned the game around in the bottom of the first inning. Leadoff batter Kim Ji-chan reached on an infield single that deflected off second baseman Kim Sang-su's glove. Park Seung-gyu's sacrifice bunt and Koo Ja-wook's walk set up a one-out, runners-on-first-and-second situation.

Choi Hyeong-woo grounded out to third base, but Diaz and Kim Young-woong hit consecutive RBI hits to take a 2-1 lead. Samsung's offense did not stop there. Lee Jae-hyeon drew a walk to load the bases, and Ryu Ji-hyuk recorded an RBI on a hit-by-pitch.

Following this, Kim Do-hwan hit a deep fly ball to right field. KT right fielder Ahn Hyun-min failed to catch the ball at the fence, allowing all three runners to score. In an instant, the score widened to 6-1. Samsung added another run in the bottom of the third inning on Park Seung-gyu's RBI single to left field with two outs and runners on first and third.

However, KT did not give up easily. Trailing 1-7 in the top of the fifth inning, Han Seung-taek hit a single to left field against Samsung reliever Miyamori Satoshi, and pinch hitters Ryu Hyun-in and Choi Won-jun drew consecutive walks to load the bases with no outs. Samsung immediately brought in Bae Chan-seung, but KT's pursuit continued. Jang Jin-hyuk's infield grounder to second base recovered one run, and Ahn Hyun-min drew a walk to load the bases again. Subsequently, Hilliard and Kim Hyun-soo drew consecutive bases-loaded walks, closing the gap to 4-7 in an instant.

Samsung threw down the gauntlet by making simultaneous changes to their battery. They replaced catcher Kim Do-hwan with Kang Min-ho and brought Lee Jae-hee onto the mound in place of Bae Chan-seung. The result was a great success. Lee Jae-hee struck out Kim Sang-su on four pitches, then retired Heo Kyung-min on three pitches with a groundout to second base. KT failed to score any more runs from the bases-loaded opportunity.

Having escaped the crisis, Samsung immediately scored additional runs. In the bottom of the fifth inning, with two outs and runners on first and second set up by walks from Lee Jae-hyeon and Kim Ji-chan, Park Seung-gyu hit a two-RBI double that struck the top of the left-field fence. The score widened again to 9-4.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, after Park Seung-gyu reached on a single to right field with one out, Koo Ja-wook hit a large RBI double directly into the gap in left-center field to bring him home. It was Samsung's 10th run. KT recovered one point in the top of the eighth inning on a solo home run over the right-field fence by pinch hitter Kim Min-hyuk, but they could not overcome the score difference.

Samsung plans to clinch the championship at home in Game 5, scheduled for 2 p.m. on the 8th at the same venue, with Won Tae-in as the starting pitcher. KT will launch a desperate counterattack led by Davis Daniel, the winning pitcher of Game 1.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original