Kia defeated the LG Twins of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League 10-7 at an away game held at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on Tuesday afternoon. Kia, which escaped its two-game losing streak, maintained its lone No. 1 ranking with 21 wins and nine losses.

KIA ran first place alone early this season with a combination of pitching and hitting. In particular, foreign pitchers James Nail and Will Crow flew high, forming a one-two punch with excellent pitches.

Kim led the batting lineup. Before the game, he had 10 home runs and 13 stolen bases in April alone. He became the first player to achieve 10 home runs and 10 steals per month in the KBO League. He hit his 10th home run against the Kiwoom Heroes on Saturday, leaving a historic mark.

In the three consecutive weekend games against LG, Kim also recorded three hits in 10 times at bat in Friday and Saturday games. Two RBIs and two steals were additional. However, Kim also had four strikeouts. LG had a hard time winning against fast breaking balls.

“In our analysis, (Kim Do-young) is weak against fast-waving breaking balls like sliders and fork balls. We targeted this,” LG manager Yeom Kyung-yeop said before the game.

At the beginning of the game, LG effectively tied Kim Do-young up with a fork ball. In the bottom of the first inning, Son struck out with a fork ball at his first at bat with Kim, and in the bottom of the third inning with one out, he used a fork ball again to cook Kim with a fly ball to right field. Kim was out with a fly to right field in the top of the fifth inning with no outs.

With no outs and runners on the first and second bases in the top of the seventh inning when his team was losing 5-7, Kim entered the batter’s box for the third time. As the game was against Park Myung-geun, who failed to possess fast breaking balls, the team deserved to have a showdown. As a right-handed sidearm pitcher, however, the game was not easy either.

Against this backdrop, Kim committed a surprise bunt. It was his signature from the KIA bench. His plan was to create the bases loaded with no outs if Kim lives at first base by controlling the intensity of the bunt, and if not, create the bases loaded with no outs or the second and third bases loaded with one out. The strategy was based on trust in the KIA bench against Kim.

Kim perfectly lived up to the belief in the bench. He displayed a perfect bunt, rolling slowly toward the third base. When catcher Park Dong-won caught the bunt, it was too late to throw. However, Park made a bad pitch to the third base, and the ball fell behind, resulting in a situation wherein the team had no outs and runners on the second and third bases 6-7. KIA turned the game around through Choi Hyung-woo’s grounder to the second base and Lee Woo-sung’s timely hit.

Kim had a half-game hit in the top of the eighth inning afterwards, signaling recovery of his batting sense. KIA finally came from behind to win 10-7. Kim’s bunt served as an inflection point for the game.

Kim Do-young faced his first crisis this season due to LG’s persistent challenge with breaking balls. However, he responded perfectly to the bench’s strategy and became the winner. Kim Do-young is also a “hitting genius” who boasts of unexpected bunt.

BY: 토토사이트 추천