Mel Rojas Jr. of the KT Wiz hits a two-run home run against the Doosan Bears during a Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on April 30, 2025, in this photo provided by the Wiz. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, April 30 (Korea Bizwire) — Cleanup Mel Rojas Jr. drove in his season-high four runs, and starter Enmanuel De Jesus returned from a two-week absence with a solid outing, as the KT Wiz easily handled the Doosan Bears 8-3 for their second straight win Wednesday.
The Wiz blew the game open with a four-run seventh inning, which featured a two-run blast by Rojas Jr. and handed the Bears their second consecutive loss in front of 17,158 fans at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul.
De Jesus, in his first start since April 18 after recovering from a left quad injury, held the Bears to three runs — two earned — on five hits in six innings to improve to 2-1 this season. His ERA went up from 1.01 to 1.38.
The Wiz moved to 16-14-1 (wins-losses-ties), and the Bears fell to 12-18-0, their season-worst six games under .500.
The Wiz opened the game with three straight singles off starter Cole Irvin. That loaded the bases for Rojas Jr., who knocked in two runs with the team’s fourth straight single.
Jang Sung-woo bounced into a 4-6-3 double play as another runner came home for a 3-0 Wiz lead.
Irvin surrendered four hits in the first inning, after allowing four hits combined over his two previous outings, covering 12 1/3 innings.
The Wiz touched Irvin for two more hits in the top of the second, the second being a bloop RBI single by Jang Jun-won that put the Wiz up 4-0.The Bears clawed back into the game, though, one run at a time against De Jesus.
First, it was Yang Eui-ji delivering a two-out double in the bottom of the third. Kim Ki-yeon then brought the Bears within two runs, leading off the bottom fourth with a gigantic solo home run to left field.
In the bottom fifth, Jake Cave made it a 4-3 game with an RBI groundout, after Kang Seung-ho led off the inning with a single and advanced to third with heads-up base running on a Jung Soo-bin groundout.
Irvin settled down after the rocky early innings, allowing just one more hit from the third inning to the sixth inning to keep the Bears within striking distance.
The Bears squandered a chance to tie the score in the bottom sixth. Kim Jae-hwan led things off with a single, and speedy pinch runner Jo Soo-haeng came on, looking to spark a rally. But De Jesus picked him off trying to steal second, before striking out the next two batters to close out the inning.
The Wiz made the Bears pay in the top seventh by pulling away with four add-on runs.
Irvin gave up a single and then hit a batter before getting the hook. Against reliever Choi Ji-kang, Hwang Jae-gyun slapped a single to right to drive in a run.
After Ahn Hyun-min’s RBI groundout pushed the Wiz’s lead to 6-3, Rojas Jr. landed the knockout blow with a two-run home run to right-center field.
The switch-hitting Rojas Jr. had two RBIs each from either side of the plate.
Rojas Jr. started the season batting 3-for-27 (.111) in his first eight games, but he is heating up as the weather gets warmer.
Over the past week, Rojas Jr. has gone 10-for-25 (.400) with two dingers and 10 RBIs in seven games.
Hwang Jae-gyun contributed three hits from the No. 2 spot.
This was Hwang’s first start of this season batting second, and he responded with his first three-hit effort of 2025. He had been hitting mostly sixth or seventh, but injuries to other regulars necessitated the switch.
“We almost got caught, but Hwang Jae-gyun’s key hit in the seventh, along with the home run by Rojas, sealed the deal for us,” Wiz manager Lee Kang-chul said. “Hwang did a great job from the No. 2 hole as a veteran should. And De Jesus gave us a quality start in his first start in quite a while.”
(Yonhap)
