“It was a perfect game with two hits”
The KIA Tigers cruised to a 7-0 victory over the KT Wiz in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, South Korea on Monday. Riding a four-game winning streak, KIA overtook KT for seventh place in the league.
Na Sung-beom hit his fourth and fifth home runs of the season, going 3-for-5 with two doubles, a home run, three RBIs and three runs scored to lead the team to victory. Choi Hyung-woo and Socrates Brito also chipped in with multi-hit games.
Returning from a 10-day layoff, Lee earned his seventh win of the season with five innings of three-hit ball, two walks and eight strikeouts. The bullpen of Jung Hae-young (1 inning), Park Jun-pyo (⅓ inning), Lee Jun-young (⅔ inning), Jang Hyun-sik (1 inning), and Yoon Jung-hyun (1 inning) preserved the win.
Manager Kim Jong-kook said in the postgame interview, 안전놀이터 “It was a perfect game from the two hitters. Lee Lee-ri threw more pitches than he should have, but he pitched five scoreless innings. He had good chemistry with Kim Tae-gun. Jung Hae-young, who followed Lee, is also getting back into his groove. The pitchers who came in after him also did their part. I think the victory was even more meaningful with Lim Ki-young and Choi Ji-min being given a break,” said Choi.
“We were able to start in a good mood by scoring two runs in the top of the first inning against an ace pitcher,” said Kim Jong-kook, “and when we needed extra runs, Na Sung-beom’s two home runs decided the game. I’m even happier that we won in front of so many fans. We will play a good game tomorrow.”
After securing the three-game weekend sweep, KIA announced new foreign pitcher Mario Sanchez as the starting pitcher on April 9. KT will start Yeo Byung-seong.