The Kia Tigers on the road encountered an unexpected twist vs.
Daejeon Hanwha on the 25th. It was a bleeding-heart game for KIA. Starting pitcher Lee Yi-ri left the mound after just 22 pitches due to an automatic headshot in the bottom of the second inning. KIA rushed Kim Ki-hoon to the mound, but he gave up three consecutive push balls and was only able to get out of the inning after sending Kim Dae-yu to the mound. Im Ki-young then pitched three innings of relief, but the team was still forced to use up its bullpen resources in both the lead and the chase. If long reliever Im Ki-young hadn’t been able to calm things down in the third inning, the team would have been forced to bleed even more.
The stakes are high. The unexpected headshot ejection put the bullpen on standby early. It’s also worth noting that the pitchers were rushing to warm up and take the mound, which naturally disrupted their existing routines and balance. The aftermath naturally leads to a three-game weekend series.
Kia will host the LG Twins for a three-game weekend series at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on April 26-28. LG boasts one of the best offenses in the league. They lead the league in team OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) by a wide margin. In addition to Austin Moon, who is battling for the top spot in the lineup, there are a number of other scary hitters, including home run leader Park Dong-won and veteran Kim Hyun-soo.먹튀검증
KIA will start Adonis Medina in the three-game weekend series, followed by Yang Hyun-jong and Shawn Anderson. With a foreign one-two punch and a homegrown ace, they have every reason to be confident, but LG’s hitting cycle is so good that it’s hard to be too careless. Medina has been up and down, Anderson has been on a downward spiral in May, and Yang is the only pitcher who really counts. Naturally, there is a lot of concern about bullpen depletion, and the variables created by Hanwha make it all the more painful.
KIA swept LG in Jamsil on April 28-30. In the first game, Yang Hyun-jong took the mound for five innings and three runs, but the team mobilized six pitchers from the bullpen to protect the lead and secure a one-run victory. The team took the next two games to build on that victory and went on a five-game winning streak. Kia is in desperate need of the same focus as a month ago.