“We won the game because of Do-young.”
The KIA Tigers won 3-1 against the KT Wiz in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at KT Wiz Park in Suwon on Wednesday.
The Tigers were in need of a turnaround after losing both games of a two-game series against SSG Landers in extra innings last weekend. They managed to turn things around with the win, keeping the gap between them and fifth-place SSG at 2.5 games, who swept the NC Dinos.
In the batting lineup, Kim Do-young shined. In the top of the first inning, the opportunity presented itself: leadoff hitter Park Chan-ho hit a triple to right-center field. The center fielder dove for the ball, but couldn’t make the catch, allowing Park to sprint to third base.
Kim Do-young swung the bat aggressively from the first pitch. He scooped up Ko Young-pyo’s “main weapon” changeup. The pitch was headed toward left fielder Anthony Alford. Alford caught the ball and threw home, but Park Chan-ho slid into home plate with room to spare.
Kia scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly by Kim Do-young. The score remained 1-1 for the remainder of the game, with neither team scoring a run. However, in the top of the ninth inning, KIA broke the tie. Kim Do-young was at the center of it.
In the top of the ninth, Kim Do-young led off with a single. He hit a four-seam fastball from KT reliever Kim Jae-yoon for a single. Kim then stole second base on a bunt single by Kim Sun-bin.
Kim set up for a bunt, but then switched to a hard throw that went over the head of first baseman Park Byung-ho, who was fielding. Kim sprinted home and scored on a head-first slide. Catcher Jang Sung-woo tried to make the tag on right fielder Lee Si-won’s grounder, but Kim was quick on his feet. KIA then added a run on a sacrifice bunt by Lee Woo-sung.
Kim went 1-for-3 with a double, a home run, an RBI, and a run scored to spearhead KIA’s comeback. Speaking to the media after the game, Kim praised Do-young’s performance, saying, “We won the game thanks to Do-young.”
“The game was tied until late in the game, but in the top of the ninth inning, with Kim Do-young’s leadoff single and stolen base, captain Kim Sun-bin delivered a skillful hit to 바카라사이트 score the winning run, and Lee Woo-sung also scored a valuable extra run with a successful squeeze as per Banchi’s plan,” said KIA head coach Kim Jong-guk.
Kim Do-young is in his second year as a professional this season. He returned to the team in June after rehabbing from a metatarsal fracture he suffered while running the bases against Incheon SSG on April 2. Since then, he has been the starting third baseman and is batting .289 with five home runs, 23 doubles, 40 RBI, 61 runs scored and a .785 OPS in 72 games.