SEOUL– The defending South Korean baseball champions KT Wiz lost their grip on a postseason bye Tuesday, after dropping their final regular season game with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Oh Ji-hwan delivered the walk-off hit for the LG Twins in a 6-5 victory at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, as the Wiz fell to No. 4 seed in the process.
That closed the books on the 2022 regular season in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), and the postseason seeds were finally set on this night.
The Wiz entered the game clinging to third place at 80-61-2 (wins-losses-ties), half a game ahead of the Kiwoom Heroes. The Wiz needed at least a tie to grab that third seed and receive a bye into the best-of-five first round, and push the Heroes to the wild card series against the No. 5 seed Kia Tigers.
Instead, the devastating loss dropped the Wiz to 80-62-2. The Heroes had an identical record but claimed the tiebreaker by winning the season series 8-7-1.
The Wiz will now face the Tigers in the wild card showdown, set for 6:30 p.m. Thursday at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, some 35 kilometers south of Seoul.
The start of the postseason has been pushed back by one day, as the Wiz, who finished their regular season later than other contenders due to earlier rainouts, will get an extra day of rest Wednesday.
As the higher seed, the Wiz will get two cracks at either winning or tying a game against the Tigers to advance to the next stage. The Tigers must win two consecutive games.
If the Wiz prevail Thursday, then they will have a date with the Heroes in the first round, starting Sunday. If the Wiz lose Thursday, they will play the Tigers again Friday for their second chance.
The wild card series was introduced in 2015, and the higher-seeded teams have won every one of them so far.
The Twins had long secured the No. 2 seed, and they have a bye to the best-of-five second round. It starts on Oct. 24.
The SSG Landers, who finished with the best regular season record at 88-52-4, are moving straight to the Korean Series, which starts on Nov. 1
The Wiz took a 5-4 lead into the ninth inning, and closer Kim Jae-yoon came on trying to add to his franchise-record total of 33 saves.
But Kim gave up three consecutive singles to load the bases. After pinch hitter Song Chan-eui struck out, Chae Eun-seong tied the game with a sacrifice fly to left field. The ball wasn’t hit particularly deep, but left fielder Anthony Alford’s throw was well off line, allowing Seo Geon-chang to slide home to make it 5-5.
With runners at first and second, Oh Ji-hwan completed his three-hit night with a towering hit over the head of right fielder Song Min-sub.
Against the Twins, the Wiz put up a four-spot with two outs in the top of the first. After Anthony Alford and Jang Sung-woo knocked in a run with a double and a single, respectively, Hwang Jae-gyun made it 4-0 for the Wiz with a two-run homer off starter Im Chan-kyu.
The Twins, though, responded with three runs in the bottom first. Kim Hyun-soo and Chae Eun-seong each hit an RBI single against starter Ko Young-pyo, and Moon Bo-gyeong’s RBI groundout cut the deficit to 4-3.
Moon then picked up his second RBI of the night in the third, when he knocked in a tying run with a two-out single up the middle.
The Wiz took the lead for good in the fifth. After a walk and an infield single put two aboard, Alford drove a single past the diving shortstop Oh Ji-hwan for a 5-4 KT lead.
The Twins couldn’t cash in after putting two runners aboard with no out and later loading the bases with two outs in the bottom sixth.
The Wiz had the bases full themselves in the top seventh, though Jang Sung-woo bounced into a 5-4-3 double play to kill that rally.
The missed opportunity cost the Wiz, as Kim Jae-yoon blew his sixth save of the season.
Source: Yonhap News Agency