KT Wiz opened the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO Korea Series with a win, but it did not come easily. On the 3rd at Suwon KT Wiz Park, KT held off the Samsung Lions 8-7 in Game 1 after building an 8-0 lead by the sixth inning and then surviving a furious late rally.
The early cushion came from consecutive home runs by Ahn Hyun-min, Kim Hyun-soo and Han Seung-taek. For a while, it looked like KT had taken full control of the series opener. But the game quickly tightened in the seventh inning, when Daniel Davis allowed a two-run home run to Koo Ja-yuk and the bullpen trouble began.
KT's bullpen had to absorb the damage
Lee Kang-cheol turned to Logan Allen, Son Dong-hyeon and Kim Jung-woon in the top of the seventh as Samsung kept pressing. The pressure only increased in the eighth, when Oh Won-seok entered and then Park Yeong-hyeon came in with one out and the bases loaded. At that point, KT was one swing away from losing the lead it had built so early.
Park did what KT needed most. He worked out of the jam and then shut the door in the ninth, striking out three batters in a row to finish the game. The save was a clean end to a tense night: 8 pitches, 1⅓ innings, and a rescue job after the bullpen had already allowed 4 runs.
It was also a fitting continuation of Park's strong run. He finished the regular season with 30 saves in two consecutive years, along with 2 wins, no losses, 2 holds, an ERA of 1.32, 10 strikeouts and 13⅔ innings in 10 games. KT needed that kind of late-game stability here more than ever.
Why Game 1 matters
There is also the bigger series context. This was Game 1 of the Korea Series, and that matters. According to the historical record cited with the game, the Game 1 winner has gone on to win the Korea Series 31 times in 42 tries, a success rate of 73.8%. In other words, KT did not just survive a scare. It grabbed the most important early edge in the best-of-seven format.
For Lee Kang-cheol, the victory likely felt especially important after pre-series concerns about using left-handed bullpen pitchers against Samsung's left-handed lineup. The concern was real, and the game showed why. KT got the result, but only after the kind of eighth-inning pressure that can flip an entire series.
In the end, KT's offense built the cushion, but Park Yeong-hyeon made sure it held up. That is how the Lions were beaten in Game 1, and why the opening win could mean so much more than the final 8-7 scoreline.
