2024-05-04 15:45:07
The professional baseball KIA Tigers completely defeated the Hanwha Eagles and maintained their lead.
KIA won 10-2 in the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League match against Hanwha held at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on the 4th.
KIA, who avenged its loss the previous day and ended its two-game losing streak, maintained its lead with a season record of 23 wins and 12 losses.
On the other hand, Hanwha was unable to continue its upward trend and ended up with 14 wins and 21 losses.
On this day, KIA pounded the Hanwha mound with 15 hits. In particular, they focused on scoring 9 points in the first and second innings and decided the game early.
Chan-ho Park (2 hits in 5 at-bats), Do-young Kim (2 hits in 4 at-bats), Hyeong-woo Choi (2 hits in 5 at-bats), Seon-bin Kim (2 hits in 4 at-bats), Jun-su Han (3 hits in 4 at-bats), and Won-jun Choi (2 hits in 4 at-bats), as many as 6. People recorded multiple hits.
Kim Do-young hit a solo home run in the 5th inning, his 11th of the season, and tied for the league lead in home runs along with Choi Jeong, Han Yu-seom (SSG Landers), Jonathan Peraza (Hanwha), and Kang Baek-ho (KT Wiz).
KIA starter Will Crowe pitched well with 2 hits, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts, and no runs in 5 innings, earning his 5th win (1 loss) of the season.
On the other hand, Hanwha’s starting pitcher Lee Tae-yang suffered his second loss of the season as he failed to get past the first inning, allowing 6 hits (1 home run), 1 walk, and 5 runs in ⅔ innings.
KIA’s batting lineup was on fire from the first inning. With one out and 2nd and 3rd bases, Choi Hyeong-woo’s infield ground ball gave them the first run, and with 2 outs and 3rd bases, Socrates Brito hit a 2-run home run.
After 2 outs, KIA’s concentration was fierce. Lee Woo-sung’s walk and Kim Sun-bin’s single put the runners on first and second base, and consecutive timely hits by Han Jun-su and Choi Won-jun sent down Hanwha’s starter Lee Tae-yang. 5 points in 1st inning alone.
In the second inning, KIA completely broke the opponent’s momentum by scoring 4 runs and running up 9-0 thanks to Choi Hyeong-woo’s 1-RBI double, Han Jun-su’s 2 RBI, and Choi Won-jun’s additional timely hit.
KIA scored 10 runs in the 5th inning with Kim Do-young’s solo home run. Kim Do-young, who achieved 10 (home runs) and 10 (stealing bases) per month for the first time in the KBO League last April, resumed hitting home runs in 10 days and became the joint leader in the home run category.
KIA removed Crow from the mound early and started the bullpen starting in the 6th inning to check the condition of the bullpen pitchers who had long rested.
Hanwha avoided a loss by scoring 2 runs in the 9th inning thanks to Noh Si-hwan’s solo home run.
In the clash between the ‘Seoul rivals’ held in Jamsil, the Doosan Bears defeated the LG Twins 3-2 and won for the second day in a row.
Doosan won two games in a row and maintained 6th place with 18 wins and 19 losses. In addition, the gap with 6th place LG (18 wins, 2 draws, 17 losses) was reduced to one game.
LG, which had lost two games in a row, was confirmed to be inferior for the third game in a row.
Doosan’s Kang Seung-ho was a major contributor to the victory with 1 hit in 4 at-bats (1 home run), 2 RBIs, and 1 run, including the final home run in the first inning. Yang Eui-ji also swung a hard hit with 3 hits in 4 at-bats. On this day, he also achieved 2,800 bases for the 26th time in his career.
Doosan starter Choi Jun-ho threw 65 pitches in 4⅓ innings, allowing 5 hits, 2 strikeouts, 2 walks, and 2 runs. Lee Byung-hun, who prevented the bases loaded with one out in the fifth inning by allowing one run, went 1⅔ innings without allowing any runs, earning his second relief win in a row and his fourth win of the season.
LG starter Son Joo-young achieved a quality start (less than 3 runs in 6 innings) with 9 hits, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, and 3 runs in 6 innings, but suffered his 2nd loss (1 win) of the season due to lack of scoring support.
In Suwon, KT Wiz defeated Kiwoom Heroes 6-2 and won three games in a row.
KT recorded 15 wins, 1 draw, and 21 losses, surpassing Hanwha (14 wins, 21 losses), which lost to KIA that day, and rose to 8th place. The gap with 7th place Kiwoom (15 wins, 19 losses), which suffered three consecutive losses, was reduced to one game.
KT coach Lee Kang-cheol reached the milestone of 400 wins (18 draws, 335 losses) in his career as a coach with this victory. He is the 16th KBO League manager to achieve 400 wins in history.
Coach Lee, who has been at the helm of KT since 2019, led KT to its first integrated championship in 2021, and is recognized for his leadership by successfully advancing to the postseason for four consecutive years until last year.
On this day, KT’s rookie Yuk Cheong-myeong took the mound as a starter and pitched well, allowing 1 run in 5 innings, earning his first win since his debut and becoming manager Lee Kang-cheol’s 400th game winning pitcher.
Kang Baek-ho, who has shown good batting skills recently, hit a solo home run (11th of the season) in the 3rd inning and tied for the lead in the home run category.
In Daegu, the Lotte Giants upset the Samsung Lions for the second day in a row, winning 9-2.
Lotte, with three consecutive wins, has laid the foundation for a rebound with a season record of 11 wins, 1 draw, and 22 losses.
Samsung, which lost two games in a row, has 20 wins, 1 draw, and 15 losses (3rd place).
Lotte, which was trailing 1-2, scored 6 points in the top of the 7th inning to turn the tide. With one out and runners on first and second base, Ko Seung-min’s timely hit tied the game, and Victor Reyes’ timely hit led to a comeback.
Afterwards, consecutive doubles by Jeon Jun-woo and Jeong Hoon, and Na Seung-yeop’s sacrifice fly widened the score to 7-2, solidifying the victory.
Lotte starter Aaron Wilkerson earned his second win (3 losses) of the season with a good pitching, allowing 2 runs in 7 innings.
In Incheon, NC Dinos won 8-6 after a fierce battle with SSG Landers.
NC, which confirmed a three-game dominant series, maintained second place with 22 wins and 13 losses.
SSG, who lost two games in a row, has 19 wins, 1 draw, and 16 losses (4th place).
For NC, Son Ah-seop, who had 6 RBIs the previous day, showed off his bat with 4 hits and 2 RBIs in 6 at-bats, and Park Geon-woo also contributed with 3 hits and 2 RBIs in 6 at-bats.
Meanwhile, a total of 104,949 spectators gathered at the five stadiums on this day, recording the largest one-day attendance this season. Jamsil, Daegu, and Gwangju games were sold out two days in a row.
(Seoul = News 1)
2024-05-04 15:45:07