KT Wiz foreign pitcher Matt Sauer shut down KIA batters and helped the team build a foundation for a two-game winning streak.
KT defeated the KIA Tigers 8-3 in a home game at Suwon KT Wiz Park on the 22nd in the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League. Starter Matt Sauer delivered a strong performance of 6 1/3 innings, three hits allowed (one home run), seven strikeouts, two walks and two runs allowed.
After the game, manager Lee Kang-cheol said, "It is encouraging that Sauer, who did his part today, is showing improvement with each outing. I'm sorry I couldn't get him the win. Joo Kwon also did well to hold it for two innings."
Sauer kept it to one run through six innings. In the fifth inning he allowed a solo homer to Dale, but that was it.
After the game, Sauer said, "The score margin was never large, so I tried to concentrate as much as possible. I think the many helps I received from Ko Young-pyo, pitching coach Je Chun-mo and the performance analysis team before the game were shown on the mound."
Although he did not get the win himself, he did his part fully. Sauer reflected, "My sweeper's strength is its command to get strikes early in the count. Since the last game the results from the sweeper have been good, so I'm satisfied."
Sauer's third outing of the season was on the 10th against Doosan, when he allowed four runs over six innings, and he began throwing the sweeper starting with the NC game on the 16th. This sweeper is a pitch Sauer learned from Shohei Ohtani when he was with the Los Angeles Dodgers in Major League Baseball last year.
There had been questions about whether Sauer's sweeper would be effective, but that day he mixed his four-seam fastball with a curve, changeup, two-seam, cutter and the sweeper (27), keeping KIA batters tightly contained. It was the pitch he threw the most among his repertoire that day.
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