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Nail Pitched Well in 7 Innings + Lee Woo-sung Scored 3 Runs… KIA defeats NC to solidify first place
Kim Young-woong hits a double in the final and Won Tae-in pitches 6 scoreless innings… Samsung beat Hanwha 1-0
The KIA Tigers continued their lead by defeating NC Dinos for two days in a row.
In the home game against NC in the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League held at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on the 20th, KIA won 9-2 with 9 long and short hits, including Lee Woo-sung's 3-run home run, amid a strong pitch from starter James Nail.
With this, KIA, which widened its lead over second-place NC to three games, began to solidify first place.
A tense pitching battle continued until the middle of the game with foreign pitchers from both teams, Neil and Kyle Hart, competing as starters. 파워볼
NC took the lead when Park Min-woo, who hit a double in the top of the first inning, stole third base and scored with Son Ah-seop's ground ball.
With this RBI, Son Ah-seop became the 24th player in KBO League history to reach 1,000 RBI.
In KIA's counterattack in the bottom of the third inning, Lee Chang-jin, who had walked, hit a fastball and a follow-up ground ball to make it 1-1.
In the bottom of the 5th inning, the batting line exploded and demolished NC Heart.
After Lee Chang-jin hit a right-handed hit and Kim Tae-goon survived with an error, Choi Won-jun hit a double to make it 2-1.
KIA added one point with Kim Do-young's infield hit with one out and runners on second and third base, and Lee Woo-sung, who came to bat, hit a three-run home run to the left, immediately taking the win to 6-1.
In the bottom of the 7th inning, with bases loaded and 1 out, KIA scored an additional run with Choi Hyeong-woo's 2-RBI double and follow-up grounder, and ran away with the game to 9-1.
KIA starting pitcher Nail allowed 4 hits and 1 run with 5 strikeouts in 7 innings and earned his 4th win of the season, tying for first place in wins with teammate William Crowe.
In addition, the average ERA (1.14) and strikeouts (35) remained first in the category.
NC starter Hart suffered his first loss (2 wins) by allowing 6 hits and 6 runs (4 earned) in 5 innings.
In Daejeon, the Samsung Lions defeated the Hanwha Eagles 1-0 and avenged their loss the previous day.
Samsung's final score, the only score of the day, came in the fourth inning.
After David MacKinnon hit a double with two outs in the top of the fourth inning, Samsung scored the winning run by Kim Young-woong with a double to the right-field line.
Samsung starter Won Tae-in became the winning pitcher by striking out 7 batters and allowing 2 hits and no runs in 6 innings.
From the 7th inning, Lim Chang-min (⅔ innings), Kim Jae-yoon (1 ⅓ innings), and Oh Seung-hwan (1 inning) continued pitching, maintaining the 1-run victory until the end.
Hanwha's top rookie Hwang Jun-seo made his second start since his debut and pitched well in 5 innings, allowing 4 hits and 1 run, but ended up being the losing pitcher.
Samsung, which won, rose to a tie for 5th place with the LG Twins, while Hanwha, which lost, was pushed to 7th place.
Despite the loss, Hanwha continued to sell out its home games for 11 consecutive games.
Meanwhile, the Kiwoom Heroes-Doosan Bears (Jamsil), KT Wiz-Lotte Giants (Busan), and LG Twins-SSG Landers (Incheon) games scheduled to be held on this day were canceled due to rain.
The canceled game will be held as a double header on the 21st.