Wiz outlast Twins to begin new KBO season
Lee Kang-min of the KT Wiz celebrates after hitting a two-run double against the LG Twins during the clubs' Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, Saturday. Yonhap
Teenage rookie Lee Kang-min had three hits and two RBIs in his professional debut, while new slugger Sam Hilliard homered as part of his own three-hit day, as the KT Wiz defeated the defending champions the LG Twins 11-7 to begin the 2026 Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) season Saturday.
Lee, 19, smoked a two-run double in his first career at-bat to key a six-run first inning at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, as the Wiz outhit the Twins 18-12.
Hilliard, a former major leaguer in his first KBO season, went 3-for-4 and knocked in three runs to atone for a defensive miscue in left field.
Every member of the Wiz starting lineup recorded at least a hit, only the sixth time a team has accomplished that on an Opening Day in the KBO's 44-year history.
Wiz starter Matt Sauer earned his first KBO victory after allowing three runs on five hits and five walks in five innings.
The Wiz jumped on Twins starter Yonny Chirinos for six quick runs in the top of the first, all of those runs coming with two outs.
Chirinos retired the game's first two batters before walking No. 3 hitter Ahn Hyun-min. The Wiz then strung together six consecutive hits to grab a 6-0 lead.
After Hilliard's single, Ryu Hyun-in knocked in the game's first run with a single. Lee Jeong-hun, Heo Kyoung-min and Han Seung-taek each delivered an RBI single. Then Lee Kang-min collected his first KBO hit and first RBIs with a two-run double to deep center field, putting his team up by a half dozen runs.
That disastrous opening frame ended up being Chirinos' only inning of the game.
The Twins tried to rally right away in the bottom of the first, as Sauer walked the bases loaded. Moon Sung-ju failed to take advantage, though, he only managed a soft flyout to left to end that rally.
The Twins loaded the bases again in the bottom third on a walk and two singles off Sauer.
This time, Park Dong-won delivered an RBI single to left to put the Twins on the board. Hilliard lost track of the towering fly, and made an awkward and ultimately futile attempt at a diving catch at the track, allowing a run to score.
Moon Sung-ju then followed with a sacrifice fly that made it a 6-2 game.
Fans cheer during a game between the LG Twins and KT Wiz at the Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, Saturday, the first day of the 2026 baseball season. Yonhap
The Wiz pushed right back in the top of thr fourth with Lee Jeong-hun's RBI knock for a 7-2 lead.
Park Dong-won's solo home run off Sauer cut the Wiz's lead to 7-3 in the bottom fifth, but the Wiz responded in the top of the sixth with Hilliard's sacrifice fly.
Kim Hyun-soo, who signed with the Wiz as a free agent in the offseason after eight seasons with the Twins, picked up his first RBI against his former team with a single in the seventh, giving the Wiz a 9-3 advantage.
Hilliard then landed a big blow with a two-run home run later that inning for an 11-3 Wiz lead.
The Twins made things a bit interesting with two runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth, but they stranded the bases loaded in the eighth and failed to score in the ninth.
Austin Dean, Moon Bo-gyeong and Park Dong-won, the No. 3, 4 and 5 hitters, respectively, accounted for eight of the Twins' 12 hits in the losing cause.