The foreign ace of the Samsung Lions, Ariel Hurado, and the '7 billion won free agent' Choi Won-tae lowered their heads against the powerful offense of the KT Wiz.

Samsung put Hurado on the mound as their starting pitcher against KT in Daegu on the 14th. In his previous appearance on the 8th against the NC Dinos, he showcased a perfect game with 9 innings of scoreless pitching (2 hits, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts), achieving his first complete game win since his KBO League debut. Therefore, expectations for victory were high.

However, contrary to expectations, Hurado lowered his head, allowing home runs to Lee Jung-hoon and Kim Sang-su, with a final line of 4⅓ innings, 9 hits, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts, and 7 earned runs. This marked his 6th loss of the season. The second pitcher, Hwang Dong-jae, also struggled, with a line of 1⅔ innings, 3 hits, 1 walk, 1 strikeout, and 3 earned runs.

Samsung could not capitalize on the perfect 7 innings of scoreless pitching by KT's starter, William Cuevas. In the 8th inning, Lee Sung-kyu and Gu Ja-wook hit home runs off Won Sang-hyun, scoring just 3 points. Ultimately, they lost 3-10.

Manager Park Jin-man noted, "It can't always be good. That can happen. We just have to avoid that in the next game" while supporting Hurado. He added, "He has thrown a lot lately. I plan to take him off the first team roster to give him a break."

Despite using their ace starter card, Samsung suffered a painful 7-point loss and sent Choi Won-tae to the mound for the game on the 15th. He showcased his best pitching since joining Samsung with a line of 6 innings, 2 hits, 3 walks, and 7 strikeouts without allowing any earned runs in a game against the KIA Tigers in Gwangju on the 10th. Especially, he had a strong performance this season at home in Daegu with 4 wins, no losses, and an earned run average of 4.21, leading to hopes for a continuation of that positive trend in this game.

Expectations were high, and thus disappointment was also significant. Choi Won-tae was not enough to stop the KT lineup, ending with a line of 4 innings, 6 hits (2 home runs), 1 walk, 3 strikeouts, and 6 earned runs, marking his 4th loss of the season. The following left-handed pitcher, Lee Seung-min, collapsed with a line of 2 innings, 7 hits (2 home runs), 1 walk, and 9 earned runs (7 earned).

The offense was also disappointing. KT hit 5 home runs, tallying 15 hits and scoring 16 runs. With this, KT set new records for most runs and most home runs in a single game this season. In contrast, Samsung, despite hitting 15 hits, only managed to score 4 runs. Samsung lost 4-16 to KT.

Samsung, having followed up with consecutive starts for Hurado and Choi Won-tae, yielded 26 runs over two days. This is a shock of more than a 2-game losing streak.

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