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| An Woo-jin / Photo: Paeng Hyun-joon |
Kiwoom defeated Lotte 2-0 on April 12 at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul in the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League matchup.
The victory improved Kiwoom to 4-9, halting the slide and giving the last-place club a platform to build on. Lotte fell to 5-8 after failing to extend its four-game winning streak.
All eyes were on An’s comeback. He underwent Tommy John surgery during the 2023 season and spent time rehabbing while fulfilling his mandatory social service. Thursday marked his first appearance in 955 days.
An touched 160 km/h (99.4 mph) on the radar and threw a scoreless inning, allowing one hit, striking out one and issuing one walk on 24 pitches.
Bae Dong-hyun followed and delivered six strong innings, yielding three hits and recording five strikeouts to pick up his third win of the season.
Lotte starter Park Se-woong also pitched well — six innings, five hits, eight strikeouts and two walks, allowing two runs — but his offense was held quiet, and he absorbed the loss.
Kiwoom set the tone early. After An worked a scoreless top of the first, leadoff hitter Lee Joo-hyung swung at Park’s first pitch in the bottom of the inning and drilled a solo homer to put Kiwoom up 1-0.
Kiwoom added an insurance run in the third. With two outs and a runner on first after Lee drew a walk, Ahn Chi-hong ripped an RBI double to extend the lead to 2-0.
On the mound, Bae took over from An and locked down the Lotte lineup from the second through the seventh, preserving the two-run edge.
With the win in hand, Kiwoom turned to the bullpen in the eighth. Park Jin-hyung (0.2 innings), Yuto (0.1 innings) and Kim Jae-woong (1.0 inning) closed out the game, shutting down any Lotte threat. The contest ended with Kiwoom’s 2-0 victory.
[Sports Today reporter Lee Sang-pil sports@stoo.com]
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