The KT Wiz completed a three-game sweep of the Lotte Giants behind a strong performance from starter William Cuevas, who pitched eight innings of one-run ball.

KT won 2-1 against the Lotte Giants in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League on Sunday at Sajik Stadium. With the win, KT swept the three-game weekend series and improved its season record to 62 wins, 2 ties, and 47 losses.

KT started Kim Min-hyuk (designated hitter), Ahn Chi-young (right fielder), Hwang Jae-gyun (third baseman), Jang Sung-woo (catcher), Anthony Alford (left fielder), Oh Yoon-seok (first baseman), Shin Bon-ki (shortstop), Park Kyung-soo (second baseman), Bae Jeong-dae (center fielder), and starting pitcher Cuevas.

Lotte countered with Ahn Kwon-soo (center fielder), Jeong Hoon (first baseman), Lee Jeong-hoon (designated hitter), Ahn Chi-hong (second baseman), Jeon Jun-woo (left fielder), Yoon Dong-hee (right fielder), Yoo Kang-nam (catcher), Park Seung-wook (third baseman), Noh Jin-hyuk (shortstop), and starting pitcher Na Kyun-an.

Veteran onslaught against hometown team, KT takes early lead

In the first inning of the game, KT took the lead with a leadoff single and an extra-base hit, and in the process, veterans Hwang Jae-gyun and Shin Bon-ki unleashed an onslaught on their hometown team Lotte.

In the top of the third inning, Ahn Chi-young hit a double to left-center field to put two runners on base. Hwang Jae-gyun followed with an RBI single to center field to take a 1-0 lead.

Continuing the momentum, in the top of the fourth inning, Oh Yoon-seok hit a triple to right-center field, and Shin Bon-ki made a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0.

‘100 percent’ Cuevas’ blistering performance sends Lotte to sixth straight loss

Cuevas has won all 11 games he’s pitched this year. Individually, she has done her job as an ace with seven wins.

Undefeated, Cuevas dominated the Lotte lineup. He shut them down early in the game, giving up his first hit in the bottom of the third inning. There was a crisis. After giving up the first hit to Park Seung-wook, he allowed a stolen base to put runners on first and second, but he struck out the next two batters, Noh Jin-hyuk and Ahn Kwon-soo, to get out of trouble.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Jung Hoon, the leadoff hitter, and in the top of the fifth inning, Jeon Jun-woo, the leadoff hitter, singled to left to load the bases, but both induced a double play to end the inning. In the bottom of the fourth, Ahn Chi-hong was hit by a pitch to end the inning, and in the bottom of the fifth, Yoon Dong-hee’s fly ball to center field was picked off by the platoon to end the inning as Jeon Jun-woo tried to tag up to second base.

Ahn Chi-young flies out, but the ball falls backwards and KT scores its first run.

KT scored its first run of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning. After leadoff hitter Park Seung-wook singled up the middle, Noh Jin-hyuk and Ahn Kwon-soo both flied out to center field, but bad luck followed. Jung Hoon’s grounder was hit high in the outfield, and right fielder Ahn Chi-young darted to make a diving catch, but couldn’t hold on to it and let the ball slip behind him, allowing the runner from first to score and cut the deficit to 2-1.

Pulpul Cuevas pitched a perfect eighth inning to reliever Kim Jae-yoon.

After throwing 85 pitches by the end of the seventh inning, Cuevas took the mound in the eighth and pitched a scoreless inning, tying his record for most innings pitched this season.메이저사이트

Cuevas continued to dominate the LOTTE bats as if he hadn’t run out of steam. He gave up a leadoff single to Noh Jin-hyuk, but got out of the jam by getting pinch-hitters Kim Min-seok (grounder to shortstop) and Jung Hoon (grounder to second baseman).

In the ninth, Kim Jae-yoon pitched a clean inning to preserve the win. It was his 24th save of the season.

For KT, Cuevas improved to 8-0 on the season with eight innings of six-hit ball, one walk, six strikeouts and one earned run.

At the plate, Hwang Jae-gyun delivered the game-winning hit, while Jang Sung-woo and Oh Yoon-seok energized the offense with multi-hit performances.

Lotte, on the other hand, was led by starter Na Gyun-an, who pitched seven innings of six-hit ball, striking out nine and walking two, but the offense struggled and fell to 6-6 on the season. The team’s bats pounded out six hits, but were only able to score one run as they fell to their seventh straight loss.