Are they trying to make up for the shortfall of 40 homers and 40 steals for this season? KIA Tigers’ “Genius Boy” Kim Do-young fired a cannon at the second practice game compared to the Korean Series. Following his first practice game, Kim showed off his batting performance in two consecutive games.
Kim Do-young started as the third batter and third baseman in a practice game against the Lotte Giants at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field on the 14th.
On this day, KIA faced Lotte starting pitcher Lee Min-seok with the starting batting order that led to Park Chan-ho (striker), Socrates (left fielder), Kim Do-young (third baseman), Choi Hyung-woo (designated hitter), Na Sung-bum (right fielder), Kim Sun-bin (second baseman), Lee Woo-sung (first baseman), Kim Tae-gun (catcher), and Choi Won-jun (middle fielder).
Kia continued its difficult trend in the early days of the game as it was tied to its opponent’s starting pitcher Lee Min-seok. After two outs in the bottom of the second inning, Kia succeeded in getting on base for the first time on the day with a hit to the center field. However, its follow-up hitter Lee Woo-sung was struck out swinging and ended the inning without allowing a run.
Kia left the mound in the top of the fourth inning with no run until the third inning. Yang had a hit to the right by leadoff hitter Son Ho-young, but allowed his Junghoon Lee and 롤 토토 to ground out to the second base by striking out Na Seung-yeop. Yang then gave up a hit to Jung Dae-seon, who was in danger of losing the game with two outs and runners on the first and third bases. However, Yang escaped the danger of losing a point by catching Shin Yoon-hoo with a fly ball to the first base.
KIA, which fought back with one out in the bottom of the fourth inning, had a chance to score with one out and runners on the first and third bases with one out thanks to Kim Do-young’s hit to the left and Choi Hyung-woo’s hit to the right. Then, Na Sung-bum, a follow-up hitter, hit a sacrifice fly ball to the center field to score the first run.
However, Kia lost its lead immediately in the top of the fifth inning. After receiving a heavy hit from leadoff hitter Lee Ho-joon in the top of the fifth inning, Yang also gave up a hit to the left to Hwang Seong-bin, putting him in danger of losing the game with one out and runners on the first and second bases. Afterwards, with runners on the second and third bases with one out, Yang gave up a come-from-behind victory due to Yoon Dong-hee’s timely hit with two RBIs.
Yang took the mound in the top of the sixth inning as well, and retired three times to complete the three innings that he is responsible for. Yang allowed five hits, two strikeouts and no walks in three innings.
Kia adjusted its balance with Kim Do-young’s tying home run after two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Kim Do-young hit a fastball of 144km/h on the third pitch with a ball count of 2B against the changed pitcher Jin Seung-hyun to draw a solo arch to the left side with a flying distance of 131.9m. In the first practice game against the Sangmu Baseball Organization held on the 9th, Kim Do-young also hit a running two-run home run against Song Seung-ki, raising his batting sense. Kim Do-young, who also tasted a home run in his second practice game, is showing off his batting sense ahead of the Korean Series.