The Kia Tigers avoided a sweep with one big inning.
The Kia Tigers completed a 6-0 sweep of the Lotte Giants in the regular season of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Sajik Stadium in Busan on Thursday. With the win, Kia avoided a three-game sweep against Lotte. It marked their 23rd and 24th wins of the season. Lotte once again failed to complete the sweep. They remain at 29-19 on the season.
Both teams battled back and forth. They didn’t lack chances, but they couldn’t capitalise on them. KIA missed a leadoff double to left-centre by Kim Kyu-sung in the third inning, a bases-loaded single by Socrates and a walk by Kim Sun-bin in the fourth inning, and a bases-loaded double by Choi Jung-yong in the fifth inning.
Lotte also drew two walks in the first inning, but failed to score, and missed a leadoff single by Yoo Kang-nam in the third, a bases-loaded walk in the fourth, and back-to-back singles by Yoo and Kim Min-seok in the fifth.
Eventually, KIA took advantage of the opportunity in the sixth inning. In the top of the sixth, Koh Jong-wook led off with a double over the centre fielder’s head and Socrates followed with a double to right-centre. Choi Hyung-woo followed with an RBI single up the middle to make it 2-0.
KIA didn’t waste the opportunity. Kim Sun-bin drew a walk to put runners on first and second with no outs, and Lee Woo-sung followed with a slashing double over the right field fence to extend the lead to 4-0. Lotte responded with a run of their own. A sacrifice bunt by Shin Beom-soo put runners on first and third, and Kim Gyu-sung made it 5-0 with a single to right. Kim Gyu-sung stole second and Ryu Ji-hyuk singled up the middle to make it 6-0. Six runs in the sixth inning alone.
There was no turning point in the game after that. KIA starter Lee Yi-ri went five innings, allowing two runs on 104 pitches with four walks and eight strikeouts. His fifth win of the season. At the plate, Socrates had three hits and one RBI, while Lee Woo-sung had two hits and two RBI. Socrates had the game-winning hit, while Lee hit a two-run double that tipped the scales. Kim Kyu-sung also had an alto-like performance in the bottom of the order with two hits and one RBI.메이저사이트
For Lotte, starter Han Hyun-hee went five innings and gave up two runs on six hits with one walk and four strikeouts. He took the loss. Lotte then brought in their bullpen of Kim Jin-wook, Kim Do-gyu and Yoon Myung-joon for the sixth inning, but they were unable to stop KIA’s firepower.