The Kia Tigers shook off the shock of a walk-off home run to claim victory. But they couldn’t laugh off an injury to an opposing player.
Lee Bum-ho-led KIA won the second game of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League against SSG Landers 11-3 on Sunday at SSG Landers Field in Incheon, South Korea. With the win, KIA improved to 15-5 (.750) on the season.
Starting pitcher Will Crowe picked up his fourth win of the season with five innings of three-hit ball, two walks and three strikeouts. At the plate, Kim Do-young broke the single-game RBI record with three hits, including two home runs, and five RBIs, while veteran Choi Hyung-woo reached the 4,000-run plateau with two hits and three RBIs. Kim Sun-bin, who drew arches for the second straight game, also contributed to the win.
Kia scored two runs in the top of the first inning to take a commanding lead, and extended it to 5-0 in the third on Choi Hyung-woo’s RBI double and Kim Sun-bin’s solo shot in the fourth. Left-hander Kwak Do-kyu gave up an RBI single to Ko Myung-joon in the bottom of the sixth, but Kim Do-young capped the scoring with a three-run homer in the top of the seventh and a two-run arch in the top of the ninth for an 8-3 lead. Kia added an RBI single by Hong Jong-pyo to make it 11-3, and Kim Sa-yoon pitched a scoreless ninth inning with three outs.
After the game, Lee Bum-ho said, “It’s a good thing that we didn’t have to use Pilseung-jo because we had a lot of offense early in the game. Crowe couldn’t pitch long innings due to muscle tightness, but he still did his part by throwing five scoreless innings.”
“Our batters were focused from the start of the game. Park Chan-ho, who made his first start in a long time, did a great job creating opportunities, and Kim Do-young and Choi Hyung-woo did a great job in the middle of the order. Congratulations to Choi Hyung-woo on becoming the second player in history to reach 4,000 runs,” said Choi. “We were able to win the game 카지노 because all the players played well. Thank you to all the players for their hard work and to the away fans for their support.”
Lee Bum-ho also expressed his sympathy for SSG infielder Choi Jung, who was diagnosed with a microfracture in his left rib after being hit by a Crowe pitch in the bottom of the first inning. Choi was on track to break the KBO record for most home runs in a season, but the injury will keep him out for at least a month.
Lee said, “I heard about Choi’s injury right after the game, and I feel very sorry for him. I wish him a speedy recovery,” Lee said.
Kia announced left-hander Yoon Young-cheol as the starter for the 18th. SSG’s starting pitcher is Robert Dugger.