(LEAD) Wiz defeat Bears to force 2nd wild card game in KBO postseason

Pairing some early offense with an excellent outing by their ace, the KT Wiz defeated the Doosan Bears 4-0 to force an extra game in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) wild card round Wednesday.

Kang Baek-ho of the KT Wiz celebrates after hitting an RBI single against the Doosan Bears during the teams’ Korea Baseball Organization wild card game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Oct. 2, 2024. (Yonhap)

Kang Baek-ho of the KT Wiz celebrates after hitting an RBI single against the Doosan Bears during the teams’ Korea Baseball Organization wild card game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Oct. 2, 2024. (Yonhap)

The Wiz scored all four of their runs in the top of the first to back starter William Cuevas, who twirled six shutout innings in the first of what will now be a two-game wild card series at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul.

Before a sellout crowd of 23,750, Cuevas struck out nine and allowed just four hits.

As the fifth seed, the Wiz must win another game against No. 4 seed Bears on Thursd
ay, back at Jamsil, to advance to the next phase. The Wiz will try to become the first No. 5 seed to make it out of the wild card stage since the system was introduced in 2015.

This will only be the third time — after 2016 and 2021 — that teams will play a second wild card game.

The Bears, as the higher seed, only need a tie or a win Thursday to reach the next round.

KT Wiz starter William Cuevas celebrates after retiring the side in the bottom of the sixth inning against the Doosan Bears during the teams’ Korea Baseball Organization wild card game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Oct. 2, 2024. (Yonhap)

KT Wiz starter William Cuevas celebrates after retiring the side in the bottom of the sixth inning against the Doosan Bears during the teams’ Korea Baseball Organization wild card game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Oct. 2, 2024. (Yonhap)

The Wiz didn’t mess around from the beginning, putting up four runs on the board on five hits and a walk against Bears starter Gwak Been in the top of th
e first.

Thousands of Bears fans watched in stunned silence as the Wiz, after a leadoff walk by Kim Min-hyuck, pieced together four straight singles to take a 3-0 lead.

Jang Sung-woo, Kang Baek-ho and Oh Jae-il each delivered an RBI single. Oh Yoon-suk put down a sacrifice bunt to put runners at second and third, and two batters later, Bae Jung-dae made it a 4-0 game with a single up the middle.

The crowd momentarily came back to life in the bottom of the first when the Bears put runners on second and third against starter William Cuevas, but the home team failed to cash in.

Gwak got the hook after walking No. 9 hitter Sim Woo-jun to begin the second inning. Jordan Balazovic, a starter during the regular season, came out of the bullpen and struck out two batters to keep the Wiz off the board.

Fans watch the Korea Baseball Organization wild card game between the home team Doosan Bears and the KT Wiz at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Oct. 2, 2024. (Yonhap)

Fans watch the Korea Baseball Organization w
ild card game between the home team Doosan Bears and the KT Wiz at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Oct. 2, 2024. (Yonhap)

After escaping the first-inning jam, Cuevas found his groove. He didn’t give up a hit over the next four frames and struck out seven.

The Venezuelan ace struck out the side in the bottom second and stranded a runner at second by striking out the dangerous Jared Young to close out the bottom third.

Balazovic did his part to keep the Bears in the game by striking out six in four shutout innings, but his teammates couldn’t get anything going offensively.

The Bears threatened in the sixth inning, with a couple of singles putting the runners at the corners for the heart of the lineup. But Cuevas dug deep for one last time, striking out both cleanup Kim Jae-hwan and No. 5 hitter Yang Suk-hwan to kill that rally.

After Cuevas, three relievers slammed the door shut, holding the Bears to just three more hits.

The Bears had one final rally in the bottom ninth, with runners at second and th
ird against closer Park Yeong-hyun, but pinch hitter Yeo Tong-keon went down swinging for the game’s final out.

For the second game Thursday, the Wiz will start left-hander Wes Benjamin, who was 0-1 with an 8.18 ERA against the Bears in three regular-season starts.

Left-hander Choi Seung-yong will start for the Bears. He only faced the Wiz in one abbreviated start on Aug. 18, giving up three runs on five hits in 1 2/3 innings.

Source: Yonhap News Agency