The Tigers were desperate to even the series at one game apiece, and with no “tomorrow” in sight, they went to their bullpen and came away with a blowout loss. The KIA Tigers are in danger of sweeping the series.
The Kia Tigers lost the seventh game of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League against the Lotte Giants 5-6 at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan on Wednesday, clinching the series. The win-loss margin is now -2 (22-24-0.478).
Early in the game, it was KIA that was closer to victory.
In the top of the second inning, they scored three runs off Lotte starter Na Gyun-an, including a push double by Kim Seok-hwan, to take the pressure off starter Adonis Medina. Medina responded with five scoreless innings of run support.
The trouble came in the sixth inning. After Medina was rocked by a double by Jeon Jun-woo and a walk to Ahn Chi-hong, the bullpen was activated, with the second pitcher, Im Ki-young, giving up a two-run double to Yoo Kang-nam with the bases loaded.
Left-hander Lee Joon-young was called up in a hurry, but gave up a two-run double to Jeong Hoon, who was pinch-hitting for Kim Min-seok, and the lead was lost for the first time since the start of the game.
The Tigers scored one run each in the seventh and eighth innings, but Park Jun-pyo singled in a run in the bottom of the seventh and Choi Ji-min and Jang Hyun-sik were unable to keep Lotte’s bats at bay in the bottom of the ninth. After three walks, Noh Jin-hyuk singled with the bases loaded to end the more than four-hour battle.
For KIA, it was important to get the three-game series underway without thinking about the next day’s game. That’s why they pulled out all the cards they could, starting with Lim Ki-young, then Lee Jun-young, Park Jun-pyo, Choi Ji-min, and Jang Hyun-sik.
However, things didn’t go KIA’s way. Choi Ji-min was particularly affected.
He’s been on a roll lately, even being considered for Rookie of the Year honors, but he threw 34 pitches and used up a lot of stamina. While other pitchers may be able to pitch back-to-back games, Choi Ji-min realistically won’t be able to go four days.
With two straight losses, KIA is now in a position to prevent a series sweep. The key will be the pitching performance of Lee Yi-ri, who has been assigned the starting duties.
In his last outing, Lee picked up the win against the Gwangju KT Wiz on March 30, allowing one run on five hits over five innings with 11 strikeouts. However, there are still some question marks about his velocity, which was shaky enough to give up five hits.먹튀검증
There’s another variable: day games.
In June, the start time for Sunday and holiday games was moved to 5 p.m., but due to the terrestrial broadcast schedule, the only game of the day’s five games will start at 2 p.m., which is the only game that will be televised.
Although both teams have to get to work early, the pressure will be more on the losing team than the team that won the previous day. It will be interesting to see if KIA can stop their losing streak at ‘2’ and end the week on a high note.