“It would be nice to go toe-to-toe when we have the power.”
The Kia Tigers made a seven-game losing streak difficult. The Kia Tigers snapped a seven-game losing streak and reclaimed fifth place with a 2-1 victory over the KT Wiz at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field on April 22.
Closing out the one-run victory, Jung Hae-young barely got Park Byung-ho to pop out to No. 4 with the bases loaded. It was a tough, close call to get the third out.
After taking a 2-0 lead and allowing a run in the top of the sixth inning, Kia relievers Jeon Sang-hyun and Choi Ji-min pitched well in the seventh and eighth innings before Jung Hae-young came on to close out the game in the top of the ninth. Jung was back on the mound a week after taking the loss against the Doosan Bears on April 15, giving up two runs on one hit and three walks.
After being hit by a leadoff single from Choi Jong-ho, Jeong fouled off a bunt attempt by pinch-hitter Lee Si-won, but two strikes later gave up a single to left-center to pinch-hitter Lee Ho-yeon, putting runners on first and second with no outs.
KT brought up pinch hitter Song Min-seob for a sacrifice bunt. Jung Hae-young fouled off Song’s bunt attempt with a low fastball to the body. With the bunt opportunity gone, KT again sent up pinch-hitter Ahn Chi-young, but Jung Hae-young flied out to left field. First and second.
Hwang Jae-gyun hit a line drive to center field, but Kim Sun-bin, who made a defensive shift to second, throws to second for the out. Alford singled to center field, advanced to second on a throwing error by 3b.
Threw three pitches in a row to Byung-ho Park at #4 to force in a run. After throwing four strikes, Park Byung-ho hit a five-pitch fastball that was barely caught by left fielder Lee Chang-jin outside the left field foul line to end the game. Everyone wiped their chests and breathed a sigh of relief.토토사이트
Jung Hae-young picked up the save, improving his record to 3-3 with 16 saves and a 3.49 ERA this season.
“I think it’s still better than against Doosan,” Kia manager Kim Jong-kook said of Jung-yeong before the 23rd game against KT. “It’s been a long time since I’ve pitched, and there was a part where my strength dropped as the number of pitches increased,” he said.
During pregame training, Kim had a conversation with Hae-young, “I told her, ‘Don’t make it hard, throw aggressively,'” Kim said, “You can’t help but get hits. I want you to go head-to-head when you have power. The more pitches you throw, the less power you have and the more likely you are to get a long hit. Yesterday, I overcame a difficult situation, so I hope that from now on, I will be aggressive and aggressive.”