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| Park Young-hyun / Photo=DB |
[Jamsil=Sports Today reporter Kang Tae-gu] KT Wiz closer Park Young-hyun told manager Lee Kang-chul he was willing to pitch again, despite throwing a gutsy outing the day before.
KT faces the LG Twins on March 29 at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in the 2026 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League.
Ahead of the game, KT announced its starting lineup.
KT will send out Choi Won-jun (center field) – Kim Hyun-soo (first base) – Ahn Hyun-min (right field) – Hilliard (left field) – Jang Sung-woo (designated hitter) – Kim Sang-soo (second base) – Heo Kyung-min (third base) – Han Seung-taek (catcher) – Lee Kang-min (shortstop).
The scheduled starter is So Hyeong-jun.
Before the first pitch, manager Lee Kang-chul spoke with reporters.
The night before, KT exploded for six runs in the first inning and took control, but LG chipped away late with a rally.
\”LG is a strong club. Even with a six-run lead, you can’t relax,\” Lee said. \”There’s a flow to a game. If we don’t capitalize when we should, you start to worry. Yesterday we almost had a serious problem.\”
He added, \”If we’d blown the lead and lost, things would’ve looked really bleak. Winning softened the blow; a loss would have killed our momentum.\”
KT paid a heavy price for the win. Closer Park Young-hyun threw 34 pitches over 1.2 innings.
\”Young-hyun said he thinks he can give us an inning today,\” Lee said. \”He’ll have tomorrow off, so he could appear in this game as well.\”
In a crowded bullpen, Jeon Yong-ju stood out after Matt Sauer. Jeon entered in the sixth and delivered a scoreless inning, fanning one and allowing no hits to stop LG’s comeback bid.
\”Yong-ju looked really good,\” Lee said. \”If he can give us an inning like that, he’ll be a big asset.\”
Hilliard, who made his KBO debut the day before, went 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs, but he also had difficulty tracking a few fly balls in the outfield.
Lee explained, \”The weather affected visibility. The lights made it hard to pick up the ball, there was a lot of fine dust, and the overcast conditions didn’t help. He still looks like he’s adjusting to the conditions here.\”
Rookie Lee Kang-min was impressive as well. In his KBO debut, Lee collected three hits and showed an advanced feel at the plate.
\”I didn’t expect that,\” Lee said with a smile. \”The ball carried farther than I thought it would.\”
During the game broadcast, cameras caught a moment when Lee appeared to scold Han Seung-taek after a late-inning mistake.
With the bases loaded and no outs in the eighth, Austin Dean hit a grounder to third. Heo Kyung-min fielded it, touched third to force the runner at second, and then threw home.
When Han Seung-taek received the throw, he seemed flustered by the charging Park Hae-min and hesitated before making a late throw to third. By the time the ball reached third, Park had already arrived and Hong Chang-gi was out, so third was occupied by Park. KT lost the chance to end up with runners at first and second and two outs.
The broadcast showed Kim Hyun-soo reacting in disbelief, and Lee called Han over.
\”He said he didn’t see it,\” Lee recalled. \”If he genuinely didn’t see it, there’s nothing to say. If you see it and ignore it, that’s a problem — but if you couldn’t see it, there’s not much you can do. He hadn’t realized Hyun-soo had already warned him, so I spoke to him,\” Lee added with a laugh.
[Sports Today reporter Kang Tae-gu sports@stoo.com]
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