Professional baseball KT Wiz reduces regular season winning magic number to '2'

Professional baseball KT Wiz is on the verge of winning the regular season for the first time in five years.

KT drew 2-2 after a close game in the 11th overtime with the Lotte Giants in the 2026 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League home game held at KT Wiz Park in Suwon on the 4th.

However, leading KT, which beat the second-place Samsung Lions, who lost that day, by 3.5 games, reduced the magic number to advance directly to the Korean Series (KS) to '2'.

In the bottom of the first inning, KT scored the first run with a sacrifice fly by Ahn Hyun-min following consecutive hits by Choi Won-jun and Kim Hyun-soo.

In the second inning, Jang Jun-won added 1 point with a timely hit to take a 2-0 lead.

Lotte started chasing in the bottom of the 5th inning when Jo Se-jin hit a solo home run.

In the top of the 8th inning, with the bases loaded and no outs, Jeon Min-jae's infield ground ball tied the game at 2-2.

Afterwards, the two teams fought until the 11th inning of overtime, but were unable to decide the winner.

Choi Won-jun and Victor Reyes, who are competing for the most hits, added two hits each and recorded 197 hits for the season.

In Jamsil, the KIA Tigers achieved a thrilling comeback victory over the LG Twins, 6-5.

KIA, which recorded 74 wins, 61 losses, 2 draws, and a winning percentage of 0.548, rose to third place in 35 days, 0.001 ahead of LG (75 wins, 62 losses, 1 draw, 0.547 winning percentage), which was on a 7-game losing streak.

KIA, who had been dragged throughout the game, showed the power to turn it around at the last minute.

LG took the lead in the bottom of the first inning when Austin Dean hit a thunderous two-run home run.

Austin, who broke his long silence and hit a home run 21 days later, recorded his 40th of the season, trailing Kim Do-young (KIA) and Sam Hilliard (41, KT Wiz), who tied for first place in the category, by one point.

Additionally, Austin was recorded as the first batter in the history of LG (including its predecessor MBC Blue Dragon) to hit 40 home runs in a season.

KIA counterattacked and tied the score at 2-2 in the top of the second inning when Park Min hit a timely hit with two RBIs.

However, LG took a 3-2 lead again in the bottom of the 4th inning when Jaewon Lee hit a solo home run to left.

KIA tied the score at 3-3 with Na Seong-beom's timely hit in the top of the 8th inning, but LG ran away with the score 5-3 with Park Dong-won's two-run home run to the left after a shift in offense and defense.

However, KIA tied the score at 5-5 with timely hits by Kim Tae-gun and Lee Ho-yeon in the top of the 9th inning, and then Herald Castro brought a runner to third base with a sacrifice fly, turning the tide.

LG collapsed after closer Son Joo-young allowed two runs on three hits and a walk in ⅓ innings.

In Daegu, the Doosan Bears defeated the Samsung Lions 12-0 with 20 hits, including four home runs.

Doosan scored first when Yunior Severino hit a solo home run in the top of the second inning.

In the third inning, Yang Eui-ji added 4 runs with a two-run home run and Yang Seok-hwan a solo home run to run away to 5-0.

Doosan added 4 runs in the 7th inning, and Kang Seung-ho hit a solo home run in the top of the 8th inning.

Jeong Soo-bin, who hit 2 hits in 4 at-bats, recorded 1,712 hits in his personal career, breaking the Doosan club record of most hits (1,710) held by Kim Dong-ju, who retired in 2013.

Doosan starter Wes Benjamin became the winning pitcher after pitching 6 innings, allowing 3 hits and no runs.

For second-place Samsung, Chris Fedek, who was expected to be the starter, showed symptoms of phlegm, so left-hander Seung-Hyun Lee took the mound instead, but the mound collapsed and their 6-game winning streak was halted.

In Changwon, SSG Landers defeated NC Dinos 6-2 and became 6th again.

NC scored the first run in the bottom of the 4th inning with a timely hit by Blaine Krim.

SSG, which was being dragged, turned the tide in the top of the 8th inning when Go Myung-Jun hit a 3-run home run to left-center.

SSG gained momentum and added 3 points in the top of the 9th inning to tie the game.

In Daejeon, Kiwoom Heroes, with Ahn Woo-jin starting, defeated the Hanwha Eagles 9-3.

Matt Davidson hit a solo home run in the top of the first inning, and pinch hitter Yeo Dong-wook hit a two-run home run in the top of the third inning to give Kiwoom a 4-3 lead.

In the 5th inning, Caston Hiura hit a solo home run to take the game to 7-3.

Woojin Ahn became the winning pitcher with 10 strikeouts through the 5th inning, allowing 5 hits and 3 runs.

Hanwha struggled with 2 hits in 4 at-bats, including shortstop Park Jung-hyun hitting a 3-run home run against Ahn Woo-jin, but fell into a 5-game losing streak.