The KBO League delivered a night to remember on April 8, 2026, as the Lotte Giants finally broke free of a grueling seven-game losing streak with a resounding 6-1 victory over KT Wiz at Busan's Sajik Stadium. The hero of the hour? None other than left-handed starter Kim Jin-wook, whose masterful performance on the mound gave Lotte fans their first taste of victory at home this season.
Kim Jin-wook’s outing was nothing short of spectacular. Taking the ball as the starter, he pitched a career-high 8 innings, allowing just 3 hits—including a solo home run to KT’s Sam Hilliard in the second inning—while striking out 6 and, impressively, walking none. It was the first time a Lotte starter had worked 8 full innings since Park Se-woong accomplished the feat back in May 2024, ending a drought of nearly two years. Kim threw exactly 100 pitches, displaying pinpoint control and an aggressive mindset that kept KT’s power-packed lineup off balance all night. “You know the saying, ‘The ground becomes firmer after the rain’? Even though things haven’t been great, I believe we’ll come back even stronger,” Kim Jin-wook said after the game, according to YTN.
The significance of Kim's performance cannot be overstated. Not only did he set a personal best for innings pitched in a single game, but he also delivered Lotte’s first quality start of the 2026 season—defined as at least 6 innings pitched with no more than 3 earned runs—after ten games of searching for consistency from the rotation. The only blemish on his line was Hilliard’s solo blast, but Kim quickly settled in, retiring KT batters with a mix of velocity and sharp breaking balls. His ability to pitch to contact and avoid free passes was crucial, as he didn’t allow a single walk or hit batter across his eight innings of work.
With Kim anchoring the mound, Lotte’s offense finally came alive to support their ace. The Giants tied things up in the second inning, capitalizing on a defensive miscue by KT to even the score. The turning point arrived in the bottom of the fourth: Son Sung-bin legged out an infield single, and Victor Reyes followed with a clutch RBI hit, putting Lotte ahead 3-1. The momentum swung decisively in the fifth, when veteran infielder Kim Min-sung launched a two-run home run—his first of the season—giving the Giants some much-needed breathing room. By the eighth inning, seasoned outfielder Jeon Jun-woo added an insurance run with an RBI single, and the Lotte bats finished the night with 13 hits, a season high for the club.
It wasn’t just the run production that stood out. Han Dong-hee, another Lotte regular, swiped his third career stolen base, showing that the Giants were willing to manufacture runs any way they could to end their skid. The win improved Lotte’s record to 3-7, providing a jolt of optimism for a team that had started the season with two straight wins before sliding into a frustrating losing streak.
Elsewhere across the KBO, the action was equally riveting. In Gwangju, the KIA Tigers unleashed an offensive onslaught to defeat the Samsung Lions 15-5, avenging a loss from the previous day. KIA’s lineup was relentless, with every starting player recording both a hit and a run—the first time this season any team had achieved the feat. Kim Do-young and Na Sung-bum each blasted two-run homers in the third inning, setting the tone for the rout. On the other side, Samsung’s Choi Hyung-woo tried to keep his team in it with a two-run shot in the fourth, his fourth homer of the season, but the Lions’ pitching staff struggled to contain KIA’s red-hot bats, surrendering 11 hits and 12 runs in just under three innings of work by starter Lee Seung-hyun.
Up north in Incheon, the Hanwha Eagles secured a hard-fought 4-3 win over the SSG Landers, clinching a crucial winning series on the road. Hanwha’s ace, Moon Dong-joo, picked up his first victory of the season by tossing five innings of two-run ball, while closer Kim Seo-hyun earned his first save after escaping a tense ninth-inning jam. The highlight for Hanwha came in the third, when Kang Baek-ho crushed a mammoth 130-meter, three-run homer—his third of the year—to give the Eagles a lead they would not relinquish. SSG battled back with solo homers and timely doubles, but Hanwha’s bullpen held firm in the late innings.
Back in Seoul, the Doosan Bears bounced back from a previous defeat to handle the Kiwoom Heroes 7-3 at Jamsil Stadium. Sophomore starter Choi Min-seok was lights out, throwing 5 and 2/3 scoreless innings with 6 strikeouts and 4 walks. The Bears jumped out to an early lead thanks to back-to-back RBI hits from Park Jun-sun and Yang Eui-ji in the first inning, then capitalized on defensive errors and wild pitches to pad their advantage. Kiwoom attempted a late rally with an eighth-inning home run by pinch-hitter Lee Hyung-jong, but Doosan’s bullpen shut the door.
Perhaps the most dramatic finish of the night came in Changwon, where the LG Twins edged the NC Dinos 5-4 to notch their fourth consecutive win. The Dinos led most of the way, but LG stormed back in the sixth with a game-tying two-run homer from Chun Sung-ho. Then, in the eighth, veteran shortstop Oh Ji-hwan delivered the decisive blow—a two-run ground-rule home run that not only put LG ahead for good but also made KBO history. At 36 years and 27 days old, Oh became the oldest player ever to hit a ground-rule home run in the league, surpassing a record that had stood since 1990. Oh’s leadership and timely hitting have been instrumental in LG’s early-season surge.
Across the league, April 8 was a showcase of resilience and redemption. From Kim Jin-wook’s breakout on the mound to Oh Ji-hwan’s record-setting homer, the night was filled with performances that will be remembered for seasons to come. As the dust settles, Lotte fans can finally breathe a sigh of relief, while the rest of the KBO gears up for another week of unpredictable action and unforgettable moments.