Reporter Kim Joo-hee Park Yoon-seo = The KT Wiz magic continues. KT jumps to third place after beating the Doosan Bears.

KT won a 4-3 away game against Doosan in the 2023 Shinhan Bank Solar KBO League at Jamsil Stadium on April 4.

Riding a team-best seven-game winning streak this season, KT jumped to third place (48 wins, 2 draws, 43 losses) after 107 days since its last win against Suwon SSG Landers on April 19.

Doosan (46 wins, 1 loss, 43 draws) dropped to fourth place after KT’s third-place finish.

KT’s Hwang Jae-gyun blasted a game-winning two-run shot (his second of the season) in the seventh inning. Starter Yoo Byeong-seong earned his fifth win of the season (6-2) with seven innings of two-run ball.

For Doosan, Heo Kyung-min had three hits, but it was not enough in the loss. Starter Kim Dong-joo struggled with his pitches, walking four in the first inning alone, and lasted just three innings.

KT took the lead in the first inning without a hit.

In the first inning, Kim Sang-soo and Anthony Alford drew back-to-back walks and advanced on Park Byung-ho’s grounder to shortstop. After Hwang Jae-gyun drew a walk to load the bases, Lee Ho-yeon singled and scored on a wild pitch.

In the bottom of the third, Doosan took advantage of back-to-back singles by Heo Kyung-min and Jeong Soo-bin and a sacrifice bunt by Kim Jae-ho. Yang Seok-hwan followed with a sacrifice fly, and Yang Ji-won followed with an RBI single.

KT tied the game in the top of the fourth inning.

After Moon Sang-chul and Kim Jun-tae drew walks, Choi Jae-dae laid down a sacrifice bunt to create an opportunity. With runners on first and second and one out, Kim Min-hyuk hit a deep shot to left-center field to bring home Moon Sang-chul from third.

The tense balance was broken in the top of the seventh inning. KT took the lead with a shot out of the cannon.

With the bases loaded, Park Byung-ho led off with a single to right-center field. Then, with two outs, Hwang Jae-gyun drove a 147-kilometer-per-hour fastball from Jung Chul-won over the wall in center field for a leadoff home run.

Doosan rallied in the bottom of the eighth.

KT’s Son Dong-hyun reached on a throwing error and Kang Seung-ho walked to load the bases, and pinch-hitter Kim In-tae followed with a single up the middle. However, with runners on first and third on the next two pitches, pinch-hitter Kim Jae-hwan struck out swinging.

In Daegu, the bottom-ranked Samsung Lions pulled off a 5-4 upset over the top-ranked LG Twins.

Riding a seven-game winning streak, LG (56W-2D-34L) saw its winning streak come to a halt against 10th-ranked Samsung (38W-1D-54L). Samsung, which was 1-8 against LG this season, started the three-game weekend series on a high note.

Samsung’s No. 4 hitter Kang Min-ho led the way, going 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs.

The game unfolded in a pattern of LG taking the lead and Samsung following suit.

In the top of the first inning, LG put runners on first and third with no outs on Hong Chang-ki’s double to left-center and Shin Min-jae’s infield single. Kim Hyun-soo scored the first run of the game on a wild pitch by Samsung starter David Buchanan.

With runners on first and third, Austin Dean grounded out to shortstop, allowing Shin Min-jae to score from third.

Trailing 2-0, Samsung had a scoring opportunity in the bottom of the third when Kim Sung-yoon stole second base after drawing a walk. With two outs, Kim Hyun-joon singled up the middle to score a run.

In the top of the fourth inning, with the score tied at 1-2, Kang Min-ho hit a solo shot to left field (his 13th of the season) to tie the game.

However, LG regained the lead in the fifth inning when Shin Min-jae singled to left field with runners on first and second.

Down by another run, Samsung tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the seventh when Lee Jae-hyun singled up the middle with runners on second and first.

The game came back to life in the eighth inning.

With the bases loaded in the top of the eighth, LG’s Kim Hyun-soo hit a solo shot to left field (his third of the season) off Samsung reliever Lee Seung-hyun.

Once again, LG’s lead was short-lived.

Trailing 3-4 in the bottom of the eighth, Samsung rallied with back-to-back singles by Ryu Ji-hyuk and Koo Ja-uk. With runners on second and third, Kang Min-ho drew a full count against LG’s Yoo Young-chan and hit a two-run double to right-center field.

With the game finally in hand, Samsung brought in closer Oh Seung-hwan to close out the ninth inning with a 5-4 lead. Oh recorded his 14th save of the season.

Buchanan suffered a sudden cramp in his right hand in the seventh inning, but was able to finish the game, allowing three runs on five hits with three walks and two strikeouts. The winning pitcher was Samsung’s Kim Tae-hoon, who pitched ⅓ of a scoreless inning as the team’s third pitcher.

LG’s third pitcher, Lee Woo-chan, took the loss with two runs in ⅔ of an inning.

In Sajik, the SSG Landers defeated the Lotte Giants 4-1 to snap a three-game losing streak.

Second-place SSG (51W1D38L) closed the gap on first-place LG to 4.5 games. Seventh-place Lotte (42-48) dropped its second straight.

SSG opened the scoring with Choi Joo-hwan’s sacrifice fly to center field in the first inning and added two more runs in the third with four consecutive hits from Cho Hyung-woo, Choo Shin-soo, Choi Ji-hoon and Choi Joo-hwan. In the fourth inning, they added another run on a sacrifice fly by Choo Shin-soo.

Down 4-0 in the fifth, Lotte scored a run on an infield single by Niko Gudrum with runners on second and third.

But there were no more runs. Trailing 1-4 in the ninth inning, Lotte had the bases loaded against SSG closer Seo Jin-yong, but Yoon Dong-hee was thrown out at second base.

After SSG starter Park Jong-hoon was removed after 4⅔ innings of two-hit ball with four walks and three strikeouts, Noh Kyung-eun, who came on as the second pitcher, pitched 1⅓ scoreless innings to earn the win.

Lotte starter Lee In-bok suffered his third loss of the season (1-1) after giving up four runs on seven hits with two walks and two strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings.

In Changwon, the NC Dinos defeated the Kiwoom Heroes 4-2.

NC (46W1D43L) moved into a tie for fourth place, while ninth-place Kiwoom (41W3D55L) fell to a sixth straight loss.

NC tied the game in the bottom of the first inning after falling behind 0-1 on a Jason Martin double with two outs.

With runners on second and third in the bottom of the third, tied 1-1, Park put both runners in scoring position with a double that landed in front of the left field fence. In the eighth inning with a 4-2 lead, Kwon Hee-dong drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly to center field.

NC’s second pitcher, Kim Si-hoon, pitched 1⅓ scoreless innings to earn the save.

Kiwoom starter Jung Chan-heon pitched well, allowing three runs on seven hits in six innings, but suffered his sixth loss of the season (2-2).

In Gwangju, the KIA Tigers defeated the Hanwha Eagles 9-3.

Sixth-place KIA (43 wins, 1 loss, 43 draws) restored its five-game winning percentage. Hanwha (38-48) remained unchanged in eighth place.

KIA starter Yoon Young-cheol earned his seventh win of the season, allowing three runs on nine hits (two home runs) and two walks with six strikeouts in six innings.

Hanwha’s Jang Min-jae suffered his seventh loss of the season (2-2) after giving up three runs on seven hits (one home run) in 3 1/3 innings with five strikeouts and four walks.안전놀이터

Kia’s Na Sung-beom went 3-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs, while Kim Sun-bin was 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs.

After hitting a solo shot (his ninth of the season) off Jang Min-jae in the bottom of the first inning, Na Sung-beom added a run-scoring single to left field in the top of the fourth inning for a 3-1 lead.

Hanwha’s Noh Si-hwan, who leads the league in home runs this season, drew a two-run arch (No. 22) to right center in the top of the fifth inning, but KIA answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning.

With one out, Lee Woo-sung singled up the middle, then Han Jun-soo singled and Park Chan-ho walked to load the bases. With the bases loaded, Choi Won-jun hit a single that dropped in front of the right field fence. Two more runners crossed the plate to extend the lead to 7-3.