With four days off, the Dinosaurs’ playoff momentum hasn’t waned. The NC Dinos responded to the support of their away fans by winning the first game of the series behind a strong pitching performance from ace Eric Peddie.

NC won the first game of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO Playoffs against KT Wiz 9-5 at KT Wiz Park in Suwon on April 30 to sweep the series.

In the history of the KBO playoffs (best-of-five series, excluding the 1999-2000 Yangdae League-1995-2008-2021), the team that wins Game 1 has a 78.1% (25/32) chance of advancing to the Korean Series. This is why NC’s heart is lighter after taking the first game.

On the other hand, KT, who dropped Game 1 despite coming out well-rested, had a lethargic performance that put a lot of pressure on them. Even with reliable starters Wes Benjamin and Ko Young-pyo in the second and third games, KT cannot guarantee victory. The batting lineup’s slump was painful.

NC, which survived the third-place race with a steep rise since September, is also showing off its majesty in fall baseball. In the wild-card deciding game against the Doosan Bears on April 19, the team used its offense to end the series with a 14-9 victory, and continued its rise with three straight wins in the semifinals against the ‘defending champion’ SSG Landers. Not many expected the semi-finals to end in three games, much less three straight wins for NC.

To minimize their exhaustion, NC took four days off after the semi-finals and trained at their home stadium, Changwon NC Park, to get in shape. Although they had fewer days off than KT, it wasn’t a bad thing for NC since the series wasn’t as long.

After finishing the regular season in second place, KT wrapped up the regular season with a final game against Doosan on the 10th. After that, the players had three weeks to rest, train, and catch their breath. 굿모닝토토

In addition, the team was able to field a three-man front line of William Cuevas-Benjamin-Young-pyo, as Ko and Benjamin recovered from injuries and poor form at the end of the season. In addition, Uhm Sang-baek is back from injury and ready to go. As for Uhm, KT’s plan was to use him in the bullpen.

However, he was ruled out of the playoffs after he felt a pain in his side while pitching against Cheong Wa Dae on April 26 and was diagnosed with a right adductor muscle injury. The players on the roster had to fill the void.