The third and final game of the midweek series between the KT Wiz and the KIA Tigers at Suwon KT Wiz Park on April 23, 2026, was anything but ordinary. Fans who settled into their seats expecting a classic pitchers’ duel between KT’s So Hyeong-jun and KIA’s Lee Eui-ri instead witnessed a wild, unpredictable contest that left both teams reeling from the outset. When the dust settled, KT emerged victorious with an 8-3 win, sweeping the series and extending KIA’s woes to a five-game losing streak—quite the reversal after their recent eight-game surge.
Before a single pitch was thrown, drama was already brewing. During warm-ups, So Hyeong-jun noticed something was off with the mound—specifically, the dirt where he planted his foot had hardened and cracked, almost like asphalt. Following his complaint, stadium staff, under the watchful eyes of the umpires, were forced to conduct an emergency repair. The start of the game was delayed by four to five minutes, and the freshly patched mound would soon become a talking point for both teams.
Could the sudden mound repair have rattled the starting pitchers? Both sides certainly struggled with control early on. As the game began, KIA’s lineup—featuring Dale at second, Kim Ho-ryeong in center, Kim Sun-bin as DH, Kim Do-young at third, Castro in left, Na Sung-bum in right, Lee Ho-yeon at first, Joo Hyo-sang behind the plate, and Park Min at short—jumped out to a fast start. Dale and Kim Ho-ryeong hit consecutive singles, and Kim Sun-bin drew a walk, loading the bases with no outs. Kim Do-young’s RBI single gave KIA an early lead, and Castro’s double play allowed another run to cross the plate for a 2-0 advantage.
But the momentum quickly shifted. In the bottom of the first, Lee Eui-ri, who had pitched five shutout innings in his previous start against Doosan, looked poised to repeat his success after retiring the first two KT batters. Then, everything unraveled. A single by Kim Hyun-soo, followed by walks to Jang Sung-woo and Sam Hilliard, loaded the bases with two outs. Oh Yun-seok then delivered a two-run single to left, tying the game. The pressure mounted as Kim Sang-soo smashed a two-run double to left-center, and Jang Jun-won added an RBI single to right. In a blink, KT had stormed back to take a 5-2 lead. Lee Eui-ri threw a staggering 42 pitches in that inning alone.
"It was a tough situation. I just tried to focus on each batter, but my control wasn’t there when it mattered most," Lee later admitted, according to local reports.
KT’s own ace, So Hyeong-jun, wasn’t immune to the chaos. He allowed three runs in the first two innings, including a run in the second after consecutive singles by Joo Hyo-sang and Park Min and a costly error by KT’s second baseman Kim Sang-soo. By the end of the second, the score was a wild 5-3 in favor of KT, and both starters had already thrown an exhausting number of pitches—22 for So Hyeong-jun in the first, 42 for Lee Eui-ri.
From there, both pitchers managed to steady themselves. Lee Eui-ri, mixing his fastball (which topped out at 152 km/h), slider, changeup, and the occasional curve, held KT scoreless from the second through fifth innings. So Hyeong-jun also settled down, escaping a fourth-inning jam with two on and one out by inducing groundouts from Dale and Kim Ho-ryeong. The fifth inning saw both pitchers retire the side in order, but their early struggles meant high pitch counts—So Hyeong-jun at 96, Lee Eui-ri at 98—forced both managers to turn to their bullpens in the sixth.
Lee Eui-ri’s final line: five innings, four hits, four walks, three strikeouts, and five earned runs. It was his third loss of the season, and his overall numbers now stand at 1-3 with a 7.71 ERA and a league-worst 16 walks through five starts. His WHIP sits at 2.04, and his .297 opponent batting average reflects the control issues that have plagued him since his return from elbow ligament reconstruction surgery in June 2024. Despite flashes of brilliance—such as his five-inning, eight-strikeout shutout against Doosan on April 17—Lee has struggled to find consistency, a fact not lost on KIA’s coaching staff or their fans.
"Lee Eui-ri has to find a way to get back on track. We need him to be a stabilizing force in the rotation," KIA manager Lee Beom-ho commented after the game, per team sources. The club had high hopes for Lee following his double-digit win campaigns in 2022 and 2023, but the aftermath of surgery and ongoing control issues have raised concerns about his role moving forward.
Meanwhile, KT’s offense continued to press their advantage, tacking on insurance runs in the later innings to put the game out of reach. KIA’s bats, after scoring three runs in the opening two frames, fell silent for the remainder of the contest, unable to erase the deficit. The Tigers’ losing streak now stands at five, a sudden downturn after their earlier eight-game winning run. They remain in fifth place in the standings, but their cushion over the chasing pack has shrunk to just half a game—a precarious position as the season heats up.
For KT, the sweep is a statement of intent. Their ability to capitalize on KIA’s early mistakes and the resilience shown by their bullpen after So Hyeong-jun’s departure bodes well for their campaign. The unusual circumstances of the mound repair may have thrown both starters off their game, but KT adapted more quickly and decisively.
As the teams look ahead, all eyes will be on Lee Eui-ri and the KIA rotation. Can the young lefty recapture the form that made him a top prospect and a foundational piece for the Tigers? Or will the aftershocks of injury and inconsistency continue to haunt his season? With the standings tightening and every game taking on greater significance, KIA will need answers—and soon.
For now, KT Wiz fans can savor a hard-fought sweep and a surge of momentum, while KIA is left searching for solutions and stability. The drama at Suwon KT Wiz Park may have started with a busted mound, but it ended with KT standing tall and KIA facing some tough questions about their future direction.