"It was a really tough game. I'm grateful to the players for not giving up and fighting to the end."
The Kia Tigers and LG Twins fought to the death on Tuesday at the Gwangju-Kia Champions Field. The game went back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. The victory went to KIA.
In the top of the fifth inning, Kim Do-young singled and Lee Woo-sung walked to load the bases for LG, who scored two runs on an infield grounder and a sacrifice fly. 0-2.
His fellow defenders couldn't help new replacement pitcher Cam Aldred.
But in the bottom of the fifth, with the bases loaded after singles by Choi Won-joon and Park Chan-ho and a walk to Socrates, Kim Do-young drove a 150-kilometer fastball from LG starter Detrick Enns over the right-field wall for a grand slam. 4-2.
The big home run would not be the final score. After Aldred closed out the sixth inning, Jang Hyun-sik, the second pitcher in the top of the seventh, hit a solo shot to left off Park Dong-won. 4-3, one out. Moon Bo-kyung singled to left and Koo Bon-hyeok doubled to left-center to put runners on second and third with no outs.
He was immediately replaced by Kim Dae-yoo. Kim Dae-yoo struck out Park Hae-min on a grounder to short before catcher Han Jun-soo threw to third on a throwing error by Shin Min-jae to nab Moon Bo-kyung at third base to extend the lead. The first two outs turned into two outs. Shin then gave up a walk to Shin Min-jae and was hit by a pitch to put runners on second and third, but Hong Chang-ki struck out swinging to end the threat.
However, in the top of the eighth, Jeon Sang-hyun gave up a two-run double to Austin to cut the deficit back to 4-5. In the end, Kim Do-young's grand slam couldn't be the game-winner, and Aldred's victory was a foregone conclusion.
Jeon Sang-hyun had been hit by a walk-off three-run homer by Hong Chang-ki the day 토토사이트 before. It would be a nightmare for him two days in a row.
In the bottom of the eighth, Choi Hyung-woo hit a Kim Jin-sung forked ball off the right-field fence for a solo shot to tie the game at 5-5, and then Na Sung-beom hit another forked ball into the right-field bleachers. A backhanded solo shot to make it 6-5. He quickly regained the lead with a rendezvous point.
In the top of the ninth, Jeong Jung-young sealed the deal. She struck out the side to end the game. It was a great one-team game where teammates healed their teammates' pain.
After the game, Kia manager Lee Bum-ho said, "Aldred did a great job shutting down the LG bats for six innings. It was his best pitch in his third KBO start, and I'm looking forward to his future performances." He praised Aldred first, saying, "Without Kim Dae-yoo's great pitching in a crisis situation, today's game would not have been easy. And Jeong Jung-young, who pitched the final inning in a tie game, did a great job of protecting the team's victory in a one-run game," praised the bullpen.
"Today's batting was dominated by our cleanup trio. Kim Do-young, who gave up a run in the fifth inning due to his own fielding error, was able to change the mood of the game by hitting his first career grand slam in the bottom of the fifth inning. The team's center fielders, Choi Hyung-woo and Na Sung-beom, hit back-to-back home runs in the top of the eighth inning, which could have put the game out of reach."
"We expected it to be a tough game before the series started, but the players did a great job, so we were able to finish the series with a win," said Lee, who concluded Games 1 and 2 with a win. "We will prepare well for the home game against Hanwha on the weekend, and we thank our fans for sticking with us until the end."