The KIA Tigers of professional baseball broke a four-game losing streak thanks to a perfect hold of five outs by their trade acquisition, the "vital man" Jo Sang-woo.

Led by manager Lee Bum-ho, KIA turned around the home game against the Hanwha Eagles in the 2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League, held at Hanwha Life Park in Daejeon on the 30th, winning 5-3. This victory ended a recent four-game losing streak that began on the 26th against Kiwoom in Gwangju, bringing their record to 3 wins and 5 losses.

KIA, trailing 1-2 until the fifth inning due to a strong performance by Hanwha's starting pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin, leveled the score in the sixth inning with a home run by Patrick Wisdom. Wisdom hit a solo shot that flew over the left wall, connecting with a low-cut fastball at 131 km/h on Ryu Hyun-jin's second pitch. It was his third consecutive home run and the fourth of the season, tying him with LG's Moon Bo-kyung for first place in home runs.

KIA successfully took the lead in the seventh inning by capitalizing on Hanwha's bullpen after Ryu Hyun-jin left the game. With one out and runners on first and second due to Byun Woo-hyuk's single to left and Seo Geon-chang's sacrifice bunt, pinch hitter Kim Sun-bin hit a two-run double that soared over the center fielder for the day's game-winning hit. Following that, Kim Kyu-sung added another two-run double, and Wisdom contributed a run-scoring single to left, extending the score to 5-2.

However, KIA, having suffered three consecutive comeback losses recently, could not feel secure with a three-run lead. In the seventh inning, left-hander Choi Ji-min came in but allowed Woo-jun Shim a right-field double and issued a walk to Hwang Young-mook, piling up runners. Although Ahn Chi-hong's deep hit to right-center was caught by center fielder Park Jae-hyun for a sigh of relief, Esteban Florial's weak ground ball ended up scoring one run. Choi Ji-min, rushing to the slow-hit ball, threw home, but third-base runner Shim Woo-jun slid head-first to the plate first.

With the crisis of one out and runners on first and second continuing, KIA called Jo Sang-woo to the mound. Facing Hanwha's fourth batter, No Si-hwan, Jo Sang-woo struck him out swinging with a high fastball on the seventh pitch. He then induced Chae Eun-sung into a ground ball to shortstop, extinguishing the fire in the seventh inning without further scoring.

In the eighth inning, he retired Kim Tae-yeon with a fly ball to right field, struck out Choi In-ho swinging, and got Moon Hyun-bin to ground out to first base in a 1-2-3 inning. He laid the groundwork for victory with 1⅔ innings of perfect pitching, striking out 2 batters without allowing any runs before handing the mound over to closer Jeong Hae-young in the ninth inning. This game realized the purpose of KIA acquiring Jo Sang-woo by giving Kiwoom two draft picks for 2026 (1st round, 4th round) and 1 billion won in cash.

In the ninth inning, Jeong Hae-young shut down the opposing team without allowing any runs, completing KIA's escape from a four-game losing streak.

After the game, KIA manager Lee Bum-ho said, "Jo Sang-woo's perfect 1⅔ innings in a crisis helped the team significantly, and Jeong Hae-young held his own for a clean inning as the team's closer," adding, "On offense, Wisdom, who has been consistently performing well, led the attack today with a game-tying home run and an additional timely hit, and Kim Kyu-sung also contributed a crucial run. I also want to commend Kim Sun-bin for recording the game-winning hit as a pinch hitter."

Manager Lee Bum-ho continued, "I believe the players' strong will to break the losing streak led to this victory. We will turn the momentum around to have a good game next week. I also thank the traveling fans who stayed with us until the end."

KIA has games scheduled next week against Samsung in Gwangju and LG in Jamsil. They will face last year's 2nd and 3rd place teams in consecutive games.

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