KT Wiz crush Hanwha Eagles for seventh straight win, extend KBO lead

The KT Wiz extended its winning streak to seven games, tightening its grip on first place in the KBO.

The league-leading Wiz cruised to a 13-3 road victory over the Hanwha Eagles at Hanwha Life Ballpark in Daejeon on Tuesday. KT overwhelmed Hanwha’s pitching staff with 16 hits, including four home runs, and six walks, and continued their red-hot run with wins in each of their last seven games.

KT capitalized on control problems by Hanwha starter Wang Yan-cheng in the top of the first inning, loading the bases before RBI singles by Kim Hyun-soo and Heo Kyoung-min gave the Wiz a 2-0 lead.

Ahn Hyun-min added a solo home run, his 13th of the season, to lead off the third. With two outs and runners on first and second, Han Seung-taek followed with a two-run double to center to stretch the lead to 5-0. KT added two more runs in the fifth and four in the sixth to effectively put the game away.

KT foreign hitter Sam Hilliard hit a two-run homer in the sixth, his 35th of the season, then followed with a solo shot in the eighth for No. 36. It marks the third time in his career that he has homered in consecutive at-bats.

KT starter Ko Young-pyo earned his 12th win of the season against six losses after tossing six scoreless innings. He allowed four hits, struck out eight and did not issue a walk.

Hanwha, held scoreless through eight innings, managed three runs in the bottom of the ninth on a two-run homer by Kang Baek-ho, his 32nd of the season, and Han Ji-youn’s fifth solo homer of the year.

Wang, Hanwha’s Asian quota starter, took the loss after allowing five runs on six hits, including one home run, and four walks over four innings. Wang will join the Chinese Taipei team for the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games following the game.

“Starter Ko has consistently pitched well, which allowed us to keep the winning streak going,” KT manager Lee Kang-chul said. “At the plate, our hitters came through with timely hits whenever we had opportunities, which allowed us to take control of the game. I’d like to thank our fans for their passionate support even though it was an away game.”

Hilliard said that his priority is helping the team and that he does not pay any attention to individual numbers such as home runs or RBIs from game to game. He added that he will look at his individual numbers when the season is over.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, the LG Twins beat the NC Dinos 3-2 in Changwon, South Gyeongsang, for their fourth straight victory, opening a 2.5-game gap over the fourth-place KIA Tigers. KIA lost 6-3 to the SSG Landers in Incheon. The second-place Samsung Lions beat the Lotte Giants 7-3 in Daegu to remain No. 2 games behind KT.