Wiz keep playoff hopes alive with 6-5 win over Twins in Game 4

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Wiz keep playoff hopes alive with 6-5 win over Twins in Game 4

Published: 10 Oct. 2024, 12:45 Updated: 10 Oct. 2024, 16:56

PAIK JI-HWAN
paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr

JIM BULLEY
jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr

The KT Wiz celebrate after winning Game 4 of the first round of the 2024 KBO playoffs against the LG Twins at Suwon KT Wiz Park in Suwon, Gyeonggi on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

The KT Wiz beat the LG Twins 6-5 in Game 4 of the first round of the playoffs on Wednesday, leveling their KBO postseason series at 2-2. The series will be decided in a final game, with the winner advancing to face the Samsung Lions in the next stage.

In the do-or-die game for the Wiz in Suwon, Gyeonggi, the home side secured a crucial win in 11 innings. The decisive Game 5 is scheduled for Friday at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul.

If the Wiz win the next game, they will become the first team in KBO history to reach the second round of the playoffs after finishing the regular season in fifth place. The club already made history by being the first KBO team to finish in fifth place and win the Wildcard series — a three-game series between the fourth- and fifth-place teams before the first round of the playoffs.

In the KBO, the fourth-place regular-season finisher enters the Wildcard series with a game already in hand, meaning the fifth-place team must win two games back-to-back to advance — a tie would result in elimination.
Since the series was introduced in 2015, no team has managed to win the Wildcard series under these conditions. Only twice has the series gone to a second game: the Kia Tigers won one game before losing to the LG Twins in 2016, and the Kiwoom Heroes did the same before falling to the Bears in 2021.

As for the Twins, losing Friday’s game would end their run to defend their Korean Series title. Last year, the Twins not only won the regular season but also secured their first Korean Series championship in 29 years.

The LG Twins' Oh Ji-hwan in action during Game 4 of the first round of the 2024 KBO playoffs against the KT Wiz at Suwon KT Wiz Park in Suwon, Gyeonggi on Wednesday. [NEWS1]

They have yet to win the series back-to-back, having won it three times: in 1990, 1994 and 2023.

For the Wiz, winning this year’s Korean Series would mark their first title since 2021 and serve as redemption after finishing as runners-up to the Twins last year.

The Lions await the first-round winners in the second round, which also follows a best-of-five format.

Whoever advances from the second round will face the Kia Tigers at Gwangju Kia Champions Field on Oct. 21 for the opening game of the 2024 Korean Series. The championship begins in Gwangju for two games on Oct. 21 and 22, then moves to the second playoff winner’s stadium on Oct. 24 and 25, before returning to Gwangju from Oct. 27 until a champion is crowned in the best-of-seven series.

If the Lions make it through to the Korean Series to face the Tigers, it will be the first time since 2012 that the championship is played entirely outside of Seoul. That year, the Lions defeated the SK Wyverns, now the SSG Landers. It would also be the first time since 2006 that the series takes place outside the greater Seoul area, which includes Incheon and Gyeonggi, when the Lions beat the Hanwha Eagles.

The Tigers are the most successful team in Korean Series history, with 11 titles and have never finished as runners-up.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN, JIM BULLEY [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]