(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Cheon Byeong-hyuk = Professional baseball KT Wiz used the shutout pitching of 'Wizard' Go Young-pyo as a stepping stone to win the regular season for the first time in four years.
KT won 5-0 with Go Young-pyo taking charge of the mound in the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League home game against the Lotte Giants held at Suwon KT Wiz Park on the 3rd.
As a result, KT, the sole winner with 5 consecutive wins, maintained its lead over the 2nd place Samsung Lions at 3 games and reduced the magic number to advance directly to the Korean Series to '4'.
Ko Young-pyo, who used his main weapon, a flashy changeup, and struck out 8 batters in 9 innings while allowing 4 hits and no runs, achieved his 6th shutout of his career.
Ko Young-pyo, who achieved his 14th win (7 losses) of the season, tied for the lead in most wins with Lim Chan-gyu (LG Twins) and Choi Min-seok (14 wins, Doosan Bears).
KT scored the first run with Ahn Hyun-min's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first inning amid Ko Young-pyo's shutout pitch.
In the 3rd inning, KT scored 3 runs thanks to Kim Hyun-soo's double and Ryu Hyun-in's heavy hit, and in the bottom of the 7th, pinch hitter Jang Seong-woo hit a solo home run to drive home the goal.
Choi Won-jun, who hit 3 hits in 5 at-bats, recorded 195 hits in the season and became tied for the most hits along with Victor Reyes (Lotte Giants).
In addition, Won-Jun Choi broke the record for the most hits (192 hits) in the KT club, previously held jointly by Dae-Young Lee (2016) and Mel Rojas Jr. (2020).
In Daegu, Samsung Lions defeated Doosan 6-4.
Samsung, which had a 6-game winning streak, secured at least 2nd place by beating 3rd place LG, which lost that day, by 8 games.
For Samsung, Lewin Diaz hit a game-winning home run in the bottom of the first inning, and Kim Seong-yoon added one run in the second inning with a timely hit.
Doosan made up for one point with Park Jun-soon's double in the top of the third inning, but Samsung ran away with a 5-1 lead when Kim Young-woong hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the third inning.
Doosan scored 3 points in the top of the 4th inning thanks to timely hits and errors by Park Chan-ho and Yang Seok-hwan, and trailed 4-5.
However, Samsung took the win in the bottom of the 6th inning when Kim Young-woong hit a solo home run in the middle of the inning to run away with a 2-run lead.
In Jamsil, KIA Tigers defeated LG 5-4.
4th place KIA, which had lost 3 games in a row, chased 3rd place LG, which had lost 6 games in a row, by 1 game.
LG took the lead with Song Chan-eui's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the second inning.
KIA overturned the score to 3-1 in the top of the third inning with Jae-Hyun Park's timely hit and wild pitch, followed by Harold Castro's hit.
In the 4th inning, Kim Ho-ryeong hit a sacrifice fly and added 1 point.
LG made up for one run with Moon Jung-bin's timely hit in the bottom of the sixth inning, then scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh to tie the score at 4-4.
However, KIA scored a thrilling final run in the top of the 9th inning when Kim Sun-bin hit a squeeze bunt with one out and runners on first and third base.
In Changwon, NC Dinos defeated SSG Landers 13-1 and broke their recent 4-game losing streak.
NC, where all starting batters recorded hits, devastated the SSG mound with 14 long and short hits, including Kim Hyung-jun hitting a 3-run home run, Kim Hwi-jip hitting a two-run home run, and Park Si-won hitting a grand slam.
In Daejeon, where the 9th and 10th ranked teams faced off, Kiwoom Heroes defeated Hanwha Eagles 7-2.
Kiwoom starter Ha Young-min became the winning pitcher by striking out 9 batters and allowing 4 hits and no runs in 6 innings.
