Samsung and KT Both Win to Keep 0.5-Game Lead Race Alive, While Lotte and Hanwha Slide

The Samsung Lions and KT Wiz traded victories again, preserving a first-place race separated by just half a game in the 2026 KBO League. Samsung beat the Lotte Giants 8-5 in Daegu for its seventh consecutive win, while Lotte dropped its sixth straight game.

Samsung starter Choi Won-tae allowed four hits, including two home runs, and two runs over six innings. He struck out 10 without issuing a walk to earn his sixth win of the season. It was his first double-digit strikeout game since April 2024, when he played for the LG Twins.

Samsung broke open a close game with five runs in the sixth inning. Kang Min-ho added an RBI single with runners on first and third, then Kim Ji-chan cleared the bases with a three-run triple against reliever Hyun Do-hoon with two outs and the bases loaded. Lotte scored twice in the eighth and once in the ninth, but could not overcome the deficit.

Lotte’s Ko Seung-min hit back-to-back home runs in the second and fourth innings and went 3-for-4 with two homers, two RBIs and three runs. His performance could not prevent the team’s defeat.

KT stayed second after beating Hanwha 9-6 in Suwon. KT’s Kim Min-hyuk drove in the opening and winning runs while going 3-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs. Heo Kyung-min added four hits in five at-bats. Hanwha’s Ryu Hyun-jin struck out five to reach 101 for the season, becoming the fourth pitcher in league history to record at least 100 strikeouts in 10 consecutive seasons, but allowed four runs in five innings. Hanwha’s eighth straight loss dropped it to ninth, and the team has won only once in its last 15 games.