BUSAN — The KT Wiz pounded out 19 hits to rout the Lotte Giants and reclaim first place in the Korea Baseball Organization, while manager Lee Kang-chul notched the 600th win of his career on the 10th.
KT won 16-3 in an away game against Lotte in the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League at Sajik Stadium in Busan on the 10th. The victory, KT's third in a row, moved the team past the idle Samsung Lions on winning percentage and back into first place.
Starter Bae Je-seong set the stage for the win. Bae allowed just three hits over six scoreless innings and struck out eight, shutting down the Lotte lineup. Lotte starter Jeremy Beasley, who had gone 3-0 with a 0.50 ERA against KT entering the game, collapsed, giving up 10 hits and nine runs in four innings.
KT scored first on an RBI single by Kim Min-hyuk in the third inning, then broke the game open with a burst in the fourth. Choi Won-jun delivered a two-run single after consecutive hits and a walk put runners on base, and a double steal and another RBI single by Kim stretched the lead to 6-0. In the fifth, KT batted around and scored eight runs, starting with a solo home run by Sam Hilliard. The outcome was settled early.
The win gave Lee, who took over as KT manager in 2019, 600 career victories, the 13th such mark in KBO League history. Among active managers, Lee is the fourth to reach the milestone, after Kim Kyung-moon of the Hanwha Eagles, Kim Tae-hyung of Lotte and Yum Kyoung-youb of the LG Twins. He also became the fourth manager to record 600 wins with a single club. Lee's career record now stands at 600 wins, 27 ties and 498 losses.
At Jamsil Stadium in Seoul, the Doosan Bears beat the Kiwoom Heroes 5-0. Foreign hitter Junior Severino led the offense, going 2-for-3 with a home run, three RBIs and two runs scored. Severino hit a 135-meter solo shot in the second inning off a 154 kph fastball from Park Jun-hyeon, then added a two-run single in the third.
In Incheon, the SSG Landers edged the Hanwha Eagles 4-3, ending Hanwha's bid for a sixth straight win. SSG starter Pedro Avila earned his sixth win of the season, allowing one run over six innings with six strikeouts. Hanwha closed to within a run on a two-run homer by Kim Tae-yeon in the seventh but could not complete the comeback.
