The KIA Tigers ended the season with eight consecutive wins against the LG Twins this season with 13 wins and three losses. KIA manager Lee Bum-ho also highly praised the team, centering on starting pitcher Yang Hyeon-jong, who became the first left-hander of the KBO League to hit 150 innings for the 10th consecutive year.메이저놀이터
KIA won 7-5 at the Gwangju LG match on Sept. 3. With three consecutive wins, Kia has maintained its lead in the league with 76 wins, two draws and 49 losses this season. The gap between the second-ranked Samsung Lions and the latter was maintained at 6.5 games.
On this day, KIA faced LG starting pitcher Hernandez with the starting batting order consisting of Park Chan-ho (striker), Socrates (left fielder), Kim Do-young (third baseman), Choi Hyung-woo (designated hitter), Na Sung-bum (right fielder), Kim Sun-bin (second baseman), Lee Woo-sung (first baseman), Han Seung-taek (catcher), and Choi Won-jun (midfielder).
Kia allowed the first run after two outs in the top of the first inning when Yang hit a solo home run from left to right by Austin. After finishing the bottom of the first inning, Yang successfully exceeded 150 innings in this season. Yang became the first left-hander of the KBO league to play 150 innings for the 10th consecutive year. He was the only manager of KT Wiz Lee Kang-cheol to play 150 innings for the 10th consecutive year.
KIA, which fought back, got on base in the bottom of the fourth inning with leadoff hitter Socrates getting on base with an infield hit to the first base, and Kim Do-young hit a left-handed hit to secure the first and second bases. Subsequently, follow-up hitter Choi Hyung-woo balanced the game with an RBI tie-breaking double that divided the right-center.
Na Sung-bum hit a ground ball to the first base with no outs and runners on the second and third bases. However, Kim Sun-bin hit a timely hit to turn the game around.
KIA was chased by 2-3 points in the top of the fifth inning when Koo Bon-hyuk hit a double to the left of the center field and Hong Chang-ki gave up a timely RBI.
Kia, which tried to run away, created an opportunity to score a point by allowing a walk by Choi Won-joon and an error in throwing the ball to check the opponent team after the bottom of the fifth inning with one out. Park Chan-ho then hit a timely hit to center field an RBI, and scored again. Choi also hit a timely hit to right field with two outs and runners on the first and second bases.
However, Kia faced a negative factor as its main batter Kim Do-young was immediately replaced by pinch runner Hong Jong-pyo after being hit by a pitch. Kim was taken to a hospital and underwent a CT scan. Fortunately, he avoided major injuries. A source at Kia said, “Kim Do-young’s CT scan showed no signs of abnormalities.”
KIA was chased 5-3 by Oh Ji-hwan when Yang hit a superior solo home run in the top of the sixth inning. However, with one out and a runner on the third base, third baseman Kim Hyun-soo was out due to excessive home rushing despite a shallow fly ball to the second base, successfully changing the mood. Yang had 97 pitches and six hits (two homers), four strikeouts, two walks and three runs in six innings on the day, satisfying the requirement for his 11th win of this season along with a quality start.
KIA had consecutive hits by Park Jung-woo and Park Chan-ho in the bottom of the seventh inning to secure the first and third bases with no outs, and successfully replaced Hernandez. KIA scored an extra point as Hong Jong-pyo’s infield fly ball to the second base led to a lucky hit in front of the right field.
In the top of the eighth inning, when Jeon gave up a ground ball to Oh Ji-hwan with no outs and runners on the second and third bases, Kia was again chased by a gap of 4-6 and two runs. The bench immediately put Kwak on the mound. Kwak caught Kim Hyun-soo with a shallow outfield fly ball, and even grounded out to Kim Bum-seok to prevent additional runs.
KIA ran away with one more point in the top of the ninth inning due to Lee Woo-sung’s hit to the right, pinch runner Kim Kyu-sung’s steal to the second base, and Han Seung-taek’s timely hit to the left. KIA ended the game with closer Jung Hae-young on the mound in the bottom of the ninth inning. After getting a double from pinch hitter Lee Young-bin, Jung gave up a run by giving up a grounder RBI to Hong Chang-ki, but made 29 saves for the season without additional runs.
After the game, manager Lee Bum-ho said, “Yang Hyun-jong pitched a quality start and played a good role as a starting pitcher. Congratulations on achieving 150 innings for the first time in a row in the KBO League. There were some runs in the bullpen, but he still kept the win by not giving up a tie. In particular, Kwak Do-gyu, who came up from the crisis of third base with one out in the top of the eighth inning, was able to block without losing a point,” praising the pitching staff first.
Coach Lee then said, “In the batting line, Choi Hyung-woo led the attack well with a timely hit and an additional RBI, and Kim Sun-bin also played well with the winning RBI. Park Chan-ho has been playing consistently in the game as a leadoff recently, and Han Seung-taek, who started for the first time in a long time, also showed good performance in offense and defense.”
Meanwhile, Kia announced that 13,089 spectators attended the match. The cumulative total of spectators has reached 1,020,235 in this season, setting a new record for the largest number of spectators in a single season. This is the first time in two matches since the club surpassed 1 million spectators for the second time in its history at the match against the Gwangju SSG Landers on April 28. It broke the previous record of 1,024,830 spectators (72 matches, 14,234 average spectators) in just 61 matches.
In addition, KIA, which has recorded its 21st full-capacity crowd this season, has only one game left to break the club’s record for the most full-capacity crowd.
“I heard that the club set a record for the largest number of spectators in a single season. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, and I will do my best to repay fans’ support for the rest of the games,” Lee said.