Wiz rout Giants to clinch KBO pennant, punch ticket to Korean Series

The KT Wiz clinched the best regular-season record in Korean baseball Monday, earning a direct trip to the championship series in the process.

The Wiz captured the KBO pennant with the combination of their 9-0 victory over the Lotte Giants and a 7-5 loss by second-place Samsung Lions to the Doosan Bears.

These results gave the Wiz a 4 1/2-game lead over the Lions with four games left. The Lions, who have five games remaining, cannot move ahead of the Wiz in winning percentage even if they win out and the Wiz lose their final four games.

The pennant is the Wiz's second in franchise history. They first won it in 2021 after winning a first-place tiebreaker game over the Lions, and went on to take the Korean Series crown as well.

Pennant winners have won the Korean Series championship about 85 percent of the time in league history.

The Wiz hung around in the top three in the first half of the season before reaching the top of the standings in August. The Lions caught them at the end of August before the Wiz climbed back into first place on Sept. 10. They have been at the top since.

The Wiz scored seven runs in the bottom of the first inning in Monday's win at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, just south of Seoul. They belted out three home runs, including two by Jang Jun-won.

Starter Logan Allen tossed eight shutout innings and struck out 14 batters.

Yonhap