BUSAN, South Korea (Interstat) — In a stark reversal of both recent form and pregame projections, the struggling Lotte Giants erupted for 13 hits behind a masterful pitching performance from Kim Jin-uk to throttle the first-place KT Wiz 6-1 on Wednesday evening at a rain-free Busan Sajik Baseball Stadium.

A crowd of 16,080 watched the Giants, who entered the game with a 3-7 record and having lost four of their last five, dismantle the KBO-leading Wiz (7-3) in a game where the home team was statistically a significant underdog. Interstat’s game simulator had projected a 7-2 KT victory, and its ELO system gave the Wiz a 58.80 percent probability to win. The result was a decisive upset, with the total score of seven runs falling well under the over/under line of 10.5.

The story of the night was Lotte starter Kim Jin-uk, who delivered a dominant outing to silence a potent KT lineup that had averaged over seven runs per game in its previous nine contests. Kim, coming off a rough loss on April 2 where he allowed three earned runs in 4 2/3 innings against NC, was in complete command. He pitched eight strong innings, surrendering just three hits and one earned run while striking out six and walking none. His efficiency and control suffocated the Wiz offense, allowing only one runner to reach second base after the second inning.

KT’s only offense came early. After a quiet first inning, foreign import Sam Hilliard led off the top of the second by driving a Kim Jin-uk offering over the right-field fence for a solo home run, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead. Oh Yoon-suk followed with an infield single, but Kim Jin-uk erased him on a fielder’s choice and then retired the next 14 batters he faced in order, a streak that stretched into the seventh inning.

Lotte’s offense, which had been held to three runs in Tuesday’s series opener, methodically chipped away and then broke the game open against the KT bullpen. They tied the game in the bottom of the fourth against KT starter Oh Won-seok. Son Ho-young led off with a double, advanced to third on a flyout, and scored on Son Seong-bin’s sacrifice fly to right. An error by KT shortstop Hwang Seong-bin then extended the inning, and Jo-jo Reyes made it pay with an RBI single to center, scoring Hwang and giving Lotte a 2-1 lead.

The most important sequence of the game came in the bottom of the fifth, turning a close contest into a comfortable Lotte advantage. With one out, Han Dong-hui singled. Third baseman Kim Min-sung then stepped up and launched a two-run homer to left field, stretching the Giants’ lead to 4-1. The blast knocked Oh Won-seok from the game after four innings of work in which he allowed six hits and one earned run, with five strikeouts.

The Giants continued to apply pressure, adding insurance runs in the later innings against the KT relief corps. In the eighth, facing Woo Kyu-min, singles by Hwang Seong-bin and Reyes set the table for veteran designated hitter Jeon Jun-woo, who delivered an RBI single to left to make it 5-1. Lotte added a final run in the inning on a fielder’s choice.

KT’s offense never threatened a comeback. After Hilliard’s homer and Oh’s single in the second, their only other hit was a two-out double by Ryu Hyun-in in the fifth, which was immediately stranded. Kim Jin-uk’s night ended after eight innings and 101 pitches. Closer Choi Jun-yong worked a perfect ninth inning, striking out one, to seal the victory.

For Lotte, the offensive attack was broad-based. Reyes went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a walk, while Jeon Jun-woo also collected three hits and an RBI. Kim Min-sung’s two-run homer provided the critical blow. KT reliever Ju Kwon provided two scoreless innings of relief in the sixth and seventh, but the early damage was done.

The victory gives Lotte a chance to split the brief two-game series when the teams meet again on Thursday at Sajik Stadium. The Wiz will look to rebound before heading home to face the Doosan Bears, while the Giants embark on a road trip to face the Kiwoom Heroes.