After a blow, KT WIZ looks to regain the lead with ‘LG killer’ Benjamin

The KT Wiz suffered a shocking upset loss in Game 2 of the Korean Series (KS-7). They will look to turn things around with starting pitcher Wes Benjamin in Game 3.

KT WIZ will host the LG Twins in Game 3 of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League KS on April 9 at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, South Korea.

After finishing the season in second place in the regular season, KT WIZ completed a reverse sweep in the playoffs with three straight wins after two losses. They also won Game 1 against KS 3-2. With two outs in the top of the ninth inning, Choi Jae-dae singled and Moon Sang-chul doubled to score the winning run.

Riding the momentum, KT Wiz scored four runs in the first inning of Game 2 against KS. In the top of the first inning, Jang Sung-woo doubled and Choi Byeong-dae hit a two-run single. Opposing starter Choi Won-tae was removed from the mound after giving up four runs in 0.1 innings. Up until this point, KT WIZ’s second straight win was in sight.

However, KT Wiz was shut down by the LG bullpen in the remaining innings and was unable to score any runs. On the contrary, KT WIZ’s bullpen gave up an RBI double to Kim Hyun-soo with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning from 4-2 and a two-run single to Park Dong-won with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning from 4-5. In the end, KT WIZ suffered an upset loss.

With this loss, the momentum shifted to LG. The momentum of KT WIZ, which had been on the rise, was knocked down a peg. KT WIZ needed to rebound in Game 3. 무지개토토 주소

Luckily, KT WIZ pulled out their most reliable starting pitcher for Game 3. It’s Benjamin, a left-handed foreign player. Benjamin has a 15-6 record with a 3.54 ERA this season. He was especially strong against the LG. In five starts, he went 4-0 with a 0.84 ERA in 32.1 innings pitched.

Benjamin’s batting average against in the LG League in 2023 is 0.165. That’s much better than his 0.240 BABIP this season. He was strong against all LG hitters. LG batters with two or more hits against Benjamin were Hong Chang-ki, Kim Hyun-soo, Oh Ji-hwan, Park Dong-won, Park Hae-min, and Lee Jae-won. None of them, except Lee Jae-won, had an OPS over 3% against Benjamin.

Of the LG batters, only Lee Jae-won and Kim Min-sung have hit home runs off Benjamin. However, Lee Jae-won did not make the roster for the Korean Series despite being so strong against Benjamin. Kim Min-sung only has a home run against Benjamin, but is batting just .143 (1-for-7). Benjamin’s strengths were evident against nearly every LG hitter on the Korean Series roster.