Kia Tigers’ “future and present” Kim Do-young (19) swung for the fences and led his team to its ninth straight win. His maturity at the plate was evident.
Starting at second base and batting third against the Doosan Bears at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on April 6, Kim went 2-for-5 with a home run, two RBIs and one run scored to lead KIA to a 7-1 victory. It was KIA’s ninth straight win in 3730 days and nearly 10 years and three months since their last win against the Hanwha Eagles in Daejeon on June 20, 2013, and “second-year” Kim Do-young was at the center of it all.
KIA was unable to score against Doosan starter Kwak Bin in the first and second innings. Prior to this game, Kwak had been strong against the KIA offense, holding a one-run (1.59) ERA in his two starts against KIA this season.
It was KIA who broke the balance. In the top of the third inning, leadoff hitter Na Sung-beom pulled a Kwak-Bin curveball over the right-center field fence. Two runs in the first.
Kim Do-young hit a home run to give KIA the lead before the middle of the inning. After KIA scored one more run in the top of the fourth inning on an RBI single by Park Chan-ho to take a 3-0 lead, Kim stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and Kwak Bin’s three-pitch four-seam fastball (fastball). The pitch rose high enough to reach a 38.1-degree launch angle, but it still cleared the fence. It was a swing that showed off Kim’s power.
With a 5-0 lead, KIA added two more runs in the top of the fourth inning as Na Sung-beom, Choi Hyung-woo, and Socrates Brito hit three consecutive singles. Starting pitcher Thomas Pannoni kept the game scoreless until the sixth inning, and the bullpen protected the lead by allowing just one run over the remaining three innings. Kim Do-young was the tournament’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) for his big inning in the fourth inning, when KIA unloaded on the opposing starting pitcher.
Kim Do-young hit a wedge solo home run in the top of the ninth inning against the SSG Landers in Incheon on March 3 to lead KIA to an 8-6 victory and their eighth straight win.
It’s not just his performance. He also showed his ability to respond by battling with the opposing battery.
“Not only in the previous at-bat, but also in the last game, I noticed that the pitcher (Kwak-Bin) often favors the body (for right-handed batters), so in that at-bat (in the top of the fourth inning against Doosan on June 6), I was looking for the ball,” Kim explained after the game.
Indeed, Kwak-Bin threw a fastball to the body in the first pitch of the first inning against Kim Do-Young. In the second game of the third inning, he threw a slider in the first inning and a fastball in the second through fifth innings.
In the first inning, Kim took a two-pitch curveball and lined it to left field, but in the third inning, he took a pitch that was a little too high and flied out to center field. His third at-bat came in a close game. Kim saw a 1-2 changeup and swung hard at a three-pitch fastball on the inside of the plate for a three-run home run.
“As a KIA fan, I’m happy about the nine-game winning streak, and I’m glad that it helped a little bit,” Kim said in an interview about the nine-game winning streak. “KIA is a team that can go up to No. 1,” he added, expressing confidence as he aimed for a higher position.메이저놀이터
It’s not just about hitting well. Kim is growing with every game and every moment. It’s enough to make any baseball fan excited.