Kia Tigers head coach Kim Jong-kook was pleased with his team’s performance.
Kia Tigers earned a 3-1 away win against KT Wiz in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at KT Wiz Park in Suwon on Wednesday. The win ended a two-game losing streak.
The team remains in sixth place. They are 2.5 games behind fifth-place SSG for the final spot in the postseason.
Lee threw 5 1/3 innings, allowing one run on four hits with five walks and four strikeouts. His total pitch count was 109 (66 strikes). He threw a mix of fastballs (64), sliders (21), changeups (14), and curves (10). His fastball topped out at 152 kilometers per hour.
He was followed by Yoon Jung-hyun with one inning of scoreless relief and Lee Jun-young with ⅓ inning of scoreless relief. Jeon Sang-hyun earned the win with 1⅓ scoreless innings. Closer Jung Hae-young earned the save with one scoreless inning.
At the plate, Kim Sun-bin led the way with four hits, two doubles and one RBI. Kim Do-young went 1-for-3 with a run and an RBI, and Kim Kyu-sung went 1-for-2.
In the top of the first inning, KIA had a chance to score when leadoff hitter Park Chan-ho tripled. The opposing center fielder failed to make a diving catch and the ball fell behind him, allowing Park to sprint to third base. Kim Do-young followed with a sacrifice fly to left field for an easy 1-0 lead.메이저사이트
In the bottom of the fifth, Lee tied the game. Lee gave up walks to Oh Yoon-seok and Choi Jung-ho and a single to Kim Sang-soo to load the bases. Anthony Alford’s sacrifice fly to center field scored one run. The score was 1-1.
Neither team was able to score any more runs after that. In the top of the ninth, KIA smiled. They faced opposing closer Kim Jae-yoon. Kim took the first pitch and singled to left. He reached second base on a stolen base. With nobody out, Kim took the second pitch and connected with a single to right. 2-1, lead. Kim reached second on a wild pitch.
With two outs, Choi Jung-yong came in to pinch-hit for Kim. Choi raced to third on Socrates’ grounder to center field. With one out, Lee Woo-sung laid down a squeeze bunt while falling, and Choi Jung-yong raced home. 3-1, wedged in.
In the bottom of the ninth, Kia brought in Jeong Hae-young. Two batters later, Choi was hit by a pitch but struck out pinch-hitter Kim Jun-tae on a wild pitch.
After the game, manager Kim Jong-kook said, “Lee Yi-ri paved the way for the team’s victory by holding the opposing batters to a minimum for 5⅓ innings. It’s encouraging to see that his pitches have improved since the last game.”
After a poor outing against Hanwha on March 21 with five runs (four earned) in 1⅓ innings, Lee pitched seven scoreless innings against NC on March 27. He continued his momentum against KT.
Coach Kim said, “Yoon Joong-hyun, who took the mound in the sixth inning with runners on first and second base, did a great job of keeping the game scoreless. All the pitchers who came up afterward, including Lee Jun-young, Jeon Sang-hyun, and Jung Hae-young, did their job,” he applauded.
“In the top of the ninth inning, Kim Do-young led off with a single and stole second, and captain Kim Sun-bin delivered a skillful hit to score the winning run. Lee Woo-sung also came off the bench to deliver a squeeze bunt to score a valuable run,” he added with a thumbs-up.
Kim concluded, “We have a tough remaining schedule, but I want all of our players to give their best as they did in this game. We were able to win thanks to the support of many spectators on the last day of the holiday. We are grateful to our fans.”
0 Comments