grapplegraphics.com Kia Tigers “Captain” Kim Sun-bin kept the spark of hope alive for fall baseball. On the first day of a four-game series against the KT WIZ, he hit the game-winning hit in the top of the ninth inning. Kim said he hopes to fight for a best-of-five series and hang the jerseys of Na Sung-bum and Choi Hyung-woo in the fall baseball dugout.
On October 3, KIA won 3-1 against KT in Suwon. With the win, KIA improved its record to 65 wins, 2 losses, and 65 draws on the season and remained in sixth place in the league.
On the day, KIA took advantage of the starting mound. KIA scored first in the top of the first inning on a triple by leadoff hitter Park Chan-ho and a sacrifice fly by Kim Do-young.
KIA infielder Kim Sun-bin hits the game-winning hit in the top of the ninth inning against Suwon KT on October 3. Photo (Suwon)=Kim Geun-han
KIA infielder Kim Sun-bin hits the game-winning hit in the top of the ninth inning against Suwon KT on Oct. 3. Photo (Suwon)=KIA Tigers
Starting pitcher Lee Yi-ri held KT scoreless until the bottom of the fourth inning. However, in the bottom of the fifth inning with a 1-0 lead, Lee gave up two walks and a hit to load the bases with one out.
With the score tied at 1-1, KIA broke the game open in the top of the ninth. In the top of the ninth, Kim Do-young led off with a single to left and stole second base. Kim then took advantage of reliever Kim Jae-yoon’s two-pitch, 144 km/h fastball for an RBI single to right field.토토사이트
With the momentum in their favor, KIA scored another run on a squeeze bunt by Lee Woo-sung in the ensuing bases-loaded situation. In the bottom of the ninth, KIA brought in closer Jung Hae-young to close out the game.
After the game, KIA head coach Kim Jong-kook said, “Starting pitcher Lee Yi-ri paved the way for the team’s victory by holding the opposition to a minimum of runs in 5.1 innings. It is encouraging to see the improvement in his pitches since the last game. Yoon Joong-hyun, who took the mound in the sixth inning with runners on first and second, 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,” Kim said, first praising the team’s mound.
“In the batting lineup, the game remained tied until late in the game, but 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 followed the plan of the bench and hit a squeeze to bring in a valuable extra run. We have a tough remaining schedule, but I hope all the players will give their best as they did today. We had a great crowd on the last day of the holiday, which helped us to win. Thank you to our fans.”
Tigers captain has no plans to give up on fall baseball: “I will fight with my teammates until the end”
KIA infielder Kim Sun-bin hits the winning run in the top of the ninth inning against Suwon KT on October 3. Photo (Suwon)=KIA Tigers
“I was originally signed to bunt, but the opposing fielders were playing deep, so I thought it would be dangerous to bunt, so I switched to a hard hit, and it worked out well,” said Kim Sun-bin, who hit the game-winning hit in the top of the ninth inning.
With the win, KIA maintained a 2.5-game lead over fifth-place SSG Landers. With 12 games to go, the team is not giving up on the fight for the top five.
“We were disappointed with the outcome of last weekend’s game, but we’re going to play until the end of the season. It’s a great experience for young players to play in fall baseball. It’s true that the team’s mood dropped after (Choi) Hyung-woo and (Na) Sung-beom were out with injuries, but since the last game against Changwon, we’ve been sending the message, ‘Let the remaining players do it, and it would be a shame to give up.’ So I think we played with more focus today.” He nodded in agreement.
Since last week’s game against Changwon, KIA has worn Na Sung-beom’s No. 47 and Choi Hyung-woo’s No. 34 jerseys in the dugout. Even though the two players have been ruled out for the season, it’s a message that they are always with their teammates.
“Hyung-woo isn’t the type of player who gets really injured, but when I saw him calling for an ambulance, I realized he was in trouble. I recently asked him how he was, and he said he was fine. Sungbeom just called to say, ‘Take care of yourself’ (laughs). I really want to hang their jerseys in the fall baseball dugout. There are a lot of games left, so I will not give up until the end and do my best with my teammates,” he encouraged.