
The Kia Tigers prevented a sweep and snapped a two-game losing streak.
Kia won the 12th game of the season against SSG Landers 13-4 on Thursday at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju.
The victory snapped a two-game losing streak and allowed Kia to extend its lead atop the standings and prevent a sweep. SSG, on the other hand, settled for a 2-1 win to complete the three-game weekend series. SSG still leads the head-to-head record between the two teams with 8-4.
SSG took the early lead against Nail in the first inning. In the top of the first, leadoff hitter Choi Ji-hoon hit a double off the right-field wall and advanced to third on a wild pitch. With the bases loaded, Choo Shin-soo singled to right, scoring Choi Ji-hoon from third. SSG put runners on first and second with an infield single by Choi, but Guillermo Heredia struck out to end the first inning with one run.
In the top of the second, SSG added another run.
With two outs, the offense got going. No. 8 hitter Jung Jun-jae led off with a single to left-center. Jung then stole second base.
With two outs, Go Myung-joon hit an infield single to shortstop, putting runners on first and third. Choi Ji-hoon then hit a single to right field to bring in Jung Jun-jae from third. With one more run, SSG took a 2-0 lead.
KIA, whose offense was halted by back-to-back singles in the first and second innings, bounced back in the bottom of the third inning thanks to a pair of defensive errors. It started with a walk to leadoff hitter Choi Won-joon. 안전놀이터 Socrates Brito doubled to right-center to put runners on second and third. Park Chan-ho hit a long ball to right field. The ball dropped just inside the foul line for a fair hit, allowing Choi Won-joon to score from third. He then rounded third base to score Socrates from second.
Although it was technically an out, the tag by catcher Kim Min-sik was a tempo late and the play was called safe. The video review confirmed the safety. Kim Do-young then reached on a throwing error by first baseman Ko Myung-joon, allowing Park Chan-ho to score from third. With three more runs in the bottom of the inning, Kia took a 3-2 lead.
After a brief lull, the offenses of both teams came back to life in the top of the sixth inning.
SSG put runners on first and second with nobody out on a single by Han Yoo-seom and a walk by Park Sung-hwan. Kim Min-sik’s surprise bunt was dropped in front of the catcher, but Jung Joon-jae’s grounder to short ended the threat. With runners on second and third, SSG tied the game again at 3-3 with a single by Go Myung-joon.
In the top of the seventh inning, SSG regained the lead. Leadoff hitter Choo Shin-soo drew a walk. Choi Jung followed with a double. With runners on second and third, Heredia’s grounder in front of the second baseman allowed Shin-soo Choo to score from third base, giving SSG a 4-3 lead.
SSG brought in Noh Kyung-eun to pitch in the bottom of the seventh inning after Elias, who was on the mound in defense, suddenly felt a pain in his forearm. Kia also had a chance in the bottom of the seventh.
After a leadoff walk to Choi Won-joon, Park Chan-ho singled with one out. With runners on first and third, Noh’s throw to first base went all the way backward, allowing Choi to score from third. The score was tied at 4-4.
It didn’t end there. Kim Do-young made it 5-4 with a two-run double to the right side of the infield off Noh Kyung-eun, and a walk to Choi Hyung-woo and a wild pitch loaded the bases. With runners on first and third, Na Sung-beom added an RBI single to make it 6-4, KIA’s two-run lead.
Kia added to their lead in the bottom of the eighth inning.
With one out, Socrates drew a walk after a nine-pitch at-bat against Han Hoo-sol. Park Chan-ho followed with a walk to put runners on first and second. With both runners in scoring position after an error by the opposing catcher, Kim Do-young drew an automatic walk to load the bases again. With the bases loaded, Lee Chang-jin drew a walk and Park Jung-woo lined a double just out of the reach of the left fielder’s arm to load the bases with two outs. Seo followed with an RBI single to center field. Kia scored four runs in quick succession to complete the 10-run inning.
Hong Jong-pyo was called safe at first base on a throwing error by shortstop Park Sung-sung, allowing Park to score from third. Two outs later, Choi Won-joon and Socrates added RBI singles. 13 runs.
After scoring seven runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, Kia sealed the deal with Kim Do-hyun closing out the top of the ninth. A late batting explosion prevented the sweep.