sportstotomen   Album Posted Nov.5th, 2023, viewed 129 times

KT advances to KS with 3 wins after 2 losses, Series MVP Son Dong-hyun

Son Dong-hyun pitched seven scoreless innings in Game 5 in the closer's role.
Kim Min-hyuk, RBI double in tying game, daily MVP

KT Wiz's "magic" continued in the fall baseball season.

The team completed the third reverse sweep in the history of the playoffs (PO-5 best-of-three series) and entered the Korean Series (KS-7 best-of-four series) for the first time in two years.

KT came from behind to defeat the NC Dinos 3-2 in Game 5 of the 2023 Shinhan Bank Throwdown KBO PO at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, South Korea.

After dropping the first and second games of the PO in Anbang, KT won the third and fourth games in enemy territory to push the game to the fifth game, and won a one-point thriller in the 'clinching game' to advance to the KS.

This is the third time in the history of the best-of-five POs that KT has been able to overcome two straight losses with three straight wins.

Previously, in 1996, the Hyundai Unicorns dropped two games to the Ssangbangul Raiders before taking games 3-5 to complete the reverse sweep. In 2009, the SK Wyverns swept the three-game series after dropping Games 1 and 2 to the Doosan Bears.

This is the second time in two years that KT will be traveling to KS, after winning the franchise's first unified championship in 2021.

KT will take on the regular-season champions, the LG Twins, and KS on April 7. Game 1 will be played at 6:30 p.m. on the 7th at Jamsil Stadium.

Son Dong-hyun was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the PO Series. He received 39 out of 71 votes (54.9 percent of the vote) in the journalists' poll, beating out his teammate Bae Jae-dae, who received 17 votes (23.9 percent).

Son appeared in all five games of the PO, pitching seven scoreless innings. He also pitched two scoreless innings in relief of starter Wes Benjamin.

NC, which had won nine straight postseason (PS) games, including the 2020 Korea Series, after dropping Games 1 and 2 of the PO, lost three straight starting in Game 3 to exit the fall baseball stage.

The strength of KT's mound shone through in the two-game series.

Starter Wes Benjamin did his job with five innings of five-hit ball, five strikeouts and two runs (one earned). Son Dong-hyun (2 innings), Park Young-hyun (1 inning), and Kim Jae-yoon (1 inning) pitched the remaining scoreless innings.

The Daily MVP of the game went to Kim Min-hyuk, who came in as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the fifth inning, trailing 0-2, and hit a game-tying double.

It was NC that took the lead first.

Behind Shin Min-hyuk's strong pitching, NC took the lead in the third inning. They capitalized on back-to-back errors by KT shortstop Kim Sang-soo.

In the top of the third inning, Kim Hyung-jun and Kim Joo-won reached base on Kim Sang-soo's throwing error. Kim Hyung-joon's bound ball was not located, and Kim Joo-won's low bouncer went behind the plate.

The next batter, Son As-seob, singled to left to load the bases, and Seo Ho-cheol hit a sacrifice fly.

NC added another run in the fifth inning.

Leadoff hitter Kim Hyung-jun hit a double off the top of the right field fence and advanced to third on Kim Joo-won's single to right field. Son As-seop followed with a rolling single to left-center field to bring home the third run.

After being shut out by Shin Min-hyuk in the fourth inning, KT's bats came alive in the fifth.

In the bottom of the fifth, Bang Sung-woo opened the inning with a double that landed just inside the right field line. Moon Sang-chul followed with a single to left to put runners on first and third.

Pinch-hitter Kim Min-hyuk came to the rescue. He took advantage of Shin's changeup and hit a two-run double down the right field line to give KT a 2-2 lead.

KT came back in the sixth inning.

Back-to-back singles by Kim Sang-soo and Hwang Jae-gyun and a walk by Anthony Alford loaded the bases. Park Byung-ho, the No. 4 hitter, singled, but Kim scored from third base.

KT kept the lead as Son Dong-hyun, who took over for Benjamin, pitched two perfect innings of one-hit ball.

Park Young-hyun took over the mound in the eighth and finished the inning with a triple play.

With a narrow 3-2 lead, KT brought in closer Kim Jae-yoon in the ninth. Kim retired all three batters he faced to preserve the win. It was his second save of the fall and the fifth of his PS career. 스포츠토토맨