Sitting in ninth place,카지노 it looked like their momentum might be stalling. But a three-game weekend sweep against the third-placed team showed that they’re worthy of the title. Even though they’re only 80 per cent complete, missing their domestic ace and centre fielder, they’ve proved they’re worthy of the title and now have nothing to play for but up. KT Wiz

KT was obviously in last place not too long ago. Due to injuries to their main players from the start, they were effectively playing with a 1.5 team and were in 10th place for almost a month from 7 May to 5 June. However, as the injured players returned, they regained their strength. The substitutes who were filling in for the missing players improved, and with the addition of the starters, we got stronger.

We finished June with a 15-8 record and a winning percentage of 6.5-2, and we jumped out of last place and right into the fight for fifth place.

Last week was a low point. With 30 wins, 2 draws and 35 losses through 26 June, and a winning percentage of 4.6.2, they were in seventh place, just 1.5 games behind the fifth-place Doosan Bears (32 wins, 1 draw and 34 losses), when they were swept by Bokbyeong Hanwha. Even with aces Ko Young-pyo and Wes Benjamin in the line-up, the Bears lost 1-4 and 4-6 to fall into a three-game losing streak. They were in seventh place, but had no points against the eighth-placed KIA Tigers, and were half a game behind ninth-placed Hanwha. At best, the team’s mood was uplifting as they moved up the standings, but falling back down could have been disruptive.

Moreover, the third game of the weekend was against the third-placed NC Dinos. However, in the weekend series against the NC, KT came together as a team to overcome the crisis.

On the 30th, starter William Cuevas pitched six innings of two-run ball and held opposing starter Taylor Widener scoreless until the sixth inning. However, in the bottom of the seventh, Park scored a run on a double by Park Kyung-soo, and in the bottom of the eighth, Park Byung-ho hit a tying single with runners on first and second after two walks, and Hwang Jae-gyun scored the winning run on an infield grounder to make it 3-2. The same story was repeated on the first day. After falling behind 0-2 in the first inning, Anthony Alford’s three-run homer in the bottom of the third made it 3-2, but it soon fell to 3-6. However, Moon Sang-chul’s three-run homer in the sixth inning levelled the score, and Park Byung-ho’s game-winning hit in the ninth gave them a 7-6 victory.

After taking a slim 1-0 lead on the second day behind a 6⅔-inning no-hitter by Ko Young-pyo, KT scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, including back-to-back doubles by Alford and Park Byung-ho, to complete the sweep with a 5-0 victory. KT, which has won three straight after a three-game losing streak, remains in seventh place with 33 wins and two draws. They are 1.5 games behind fifth-placed Doosan, 2.5 games behind fourth-placed Lotte and three games behind third-placed NC.

With the return of Cuevas, the starting line-up has stabilised significantly and is playing KT-like baseball. Small won’t be back this year after undergoing elbow surgery, but centre fielder Kang Baek-ho is ready to return to action and KT has room to get even stronger.

Could the ‘returning’ favourites shake up the KBO in the summer, KT are definitely the team to avoid right now, along with Hanwha.