KT Wiz foreign pitcher William Cuevas pitched a near-perfect game to give the team its fourth straight win.

KT won its 10th game of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League against the Samsung Lions 7-2 at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on Wednesday, extending its winning streak to four games and moving past the KIA Tigers into sixth place. The team is now 38-2, 41-41 (.481) on the season.

The star of the show was Cuevas, who went eight innings, five hits, no walks, 10 strikeouts, and one earned run, completely shutting down the Samsung lineup to earn his third win of the season.

In fact, the pressure was more on Samsung than KT before the game started. Samsung’s foreign pitcher David Buchanan, who was scheduled to start the game, was forced to withdraw due to a knee injury.바카라사이트

Amidst the chaos, it was KT who took the initiative. They scored easily with only three home runs, including a three-run shot by Kang Baek-ho in the second inning, a solo shot by Park Byung-ho in the third inning, and a three-run shot by Anthony Alford in the fourth inning.

KT didn’t score another run until the top of the fifth inning, but they were able to do so comfortably thanks to Cuevas. Cuevas got off to a great start with three consecutive strikeouts in the first inning and didn’t falter after scoring the first run of the game on Jose Pirela’s RBI single in the bottom of the fourth. Left alone on the mound for the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, Cuevas was up to the task, throwing 98 pitches in eight innings.

Cuevas’ performance was reminiscent of two years ago, on October 31, 2021, when KT and Samsung, both with identical 0.563 season winning percentages, faced off in a best-of-three series at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu. The starting pitchers were Cuevas and Won Tae-in.

Both starters were focused, but KT took the lead in the top of the sixth inning with a leadoff single by Kang Baek-ho to take a 1-0 victory and end the regular season atop the standings, punching their ticket to the Korean Series.

On October 28 against the Suwon NC Dinos, Cuevas surprised everyone by pitching seven innings on just two days’ rest, giving up one run on three hits while striking out eight. In Game 1 of the Korean Series that year, Cuevas went 7⅔ innings against the Doosan Bears, giving up one run on seven hits while striking out eight and walking one.

While it may not be fair to compare Cuevas’ performance to that of two years ago due to the different circumstances and rest days, for KT fans with fresh memories, the ace’s presence in the ‘promised land’ of Daegu was once again confirmed. Thanks to Cuevas, who has always been there for his team in big moments, KT was able to start the second half on a high note.