Doosan Bears Edge Past KT Wiz Behind Strong Pitching and Timely Hitting
The Doosan Bears held off the first-place KT Wiz on Monday night, stealing a 3-1 victory in Seoul despite playing from behind for much of the contest. It was a gutsy performance from the visiting Bears, who scraped together enough offense to overcome a KT team that had dominated the regular season standings but couldn’t quite find their rhythm at the plate when it mattered most.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doosan Bears | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 2 |
| KT Wiz | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
Choi Min-seok was the story on the mound for Doosan. The right-hander worked six innings of steady baseball, allowing six hits and one run while striking out five. He didn’t blow anyone away with overwhelming stuff, but his control was sharp enough to keep KT off-balance throughout the evening. When the Wiz threatened to break through, Choi simply went to work, relying on his command rather than his fastball to induce ground balls and weak contact.
The bullpen did the rest. Kim Taek-yeon came on for the seventh with the game on the line, throwing a hitless inning with two strikeouts. Takada followed with another scoreless frame, and closer Lee Young-ha locked things down in the ninth, allowing one hit but recording two strikeouts to seal it. Four different arms, each one doing their job without drama or unnecessary stress.
| Pitcher | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doosan Bears | ||||||
| Choi Min-suk [W] | 6 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Kim Taek-yeon [H] | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Takada [H] | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lee Young-ha [S] | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| KT Wiz | ||||||
| Seo Hyung-jun [L] | 6 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| Ju Kwon | 0 ⅓ | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Sang-dong Lee | 1 ⅔ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Jeon Yong-ju | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
On the other side, So Hyung-jun labored through six innings for KT, giving up five hits and two runs. The Wiz starter wasn’t terrible, but he lacked the precision that had made him effective all season. Two walks in six innings suggested a pitcher operating without his best stuff, and his team never quite caught up because of it.
The offensive show, though modest in the final tally, was enough. Jeong Su-bin went deep in the fifth inning off So, putting Doosan ahead 1-0 with his seventh home run of the season. The Bears’ catcher, Yang Ui-ji, added some insurance two innings later, stroking a left-field homer—his 18th—to make it 3-0. Yang’s blast broke open what had been a tight, tension-filled contest and essentially ended any realistic comeback bid by the Wiz.
Kim Min-seok collected two hits for Doosan, while An Jae-seok drove in a run with a single. Kim Hyun-su led KT with two hits and knocked in the team’s only run, a solo effort that came too late to matter. Heo Kyung-min also chipped in with two hits, though the Wiz lineup couldn’t generate the kind of sustained pressure needed to overcome Doosan’s early lead.
| Batter | AB | H | R | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doosan Bears | |||||
| Ahn Jae-seok | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Yang Ui-ji | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Kim Min-seok | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jung Su-bin | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| KT Wiz | |||||
| Kim Hyun-soo | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Heo Kyung-min | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jo Dae-hyun | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The turning point arrived in the sixth when Yang hit that home run with one out. Moments earlier, there had been a double play—Park Jun-soon grounded into one in the seventh—that cut short a potential KT rally. These small moments, the difference between runners on base and empty bases, ultimately defined the game’s outcome.
Doosan also got a gift in the first inning when An Jae-seok committed an error, though KT failed to capitalize on the miscue. Choi Min-seok was charged with an error himself in the fourth, but again the Wiz couldn’t convert the opportunity into runs. Baseball sometimes rewards the team that takes advantage of mistakes, and on this night, Doosan was the hungrier ballclub.
The loss drops KT to 64 wins against 42 losses with 3 draws, still comfortably in first place but now potentially vulnerable. The Wiz had ridden their league-leading record into the late innings, but couldn’t sustain the offensive production necessary to keep pace. Doosan, sitting at 59-50-4, inched closer to respectability with this crucial road victory, a reminder that standings points matter more in August than the raw numbers might suggest.
Choi Min-seok earned his 12th win of the season, improving to 12-3. So Hyung-jun fell to 6-3 in the loss. Lee Young-ha picked up the save, his third of the month. The two teams meet again tomorrow night, with Doosan looking to string together consecutive wins and KT seeking immediate redemption on their home field.