Kim Do-yeong of KIA, the top performer in home runs within the professional baseball league, achieved his 34th home run of the season, increasing the lead by three over his competitor for the home run championship, Austin from LG (31 home runs).
Kim Do-yeong began as the No. 3 hitter (third baseman) in the professional baseball match against Samsung, which took place in Gwangju on the 12th. He struck out during his first at-bat in the first inning, but in the third inning, with the game tied at 2-2, he hit a solo home run over the left field fence off the opponent’s starter Boss’s 147 km/h two-seam fastball. This marked his first home run in two games since the NC game on July 31.
With his 34th home run of the season, Kim Do-yeong extended his lead over Austin, who is currently second with 31 home runs. In the last seven games before this match, he hit six home runs, demonstrating his outstanding performance at the plate. If he continues in this form, he is likely to easily surpass 40 home runs by the end of the season, even if he takes a break next month to compete in the Asian Games. Kim Do-yeong’s previous single-season record for home runs was 38, achieved in 2024.
KIA won against Samsung with a score of 7-2, featuring Park Jae-hyun’s solo home run as the leadoff batter in the sixth inning and Ha Ju-suk’s first home run (worth two runs) with KIA in the seventh inning. Starting pitcher Chris Nail performed well, throwing 7 innings, allowing 6 hits, striking out 7 batters, and giving up 2 runs.
In Changwon, NC secured a 3-0 victory over the top-ranked KT. Local star Goo Chang-mo, who took the mound, threw a flawless game spanning 7 innings, throwing 98 pitches, allowing 2 hits, striking out 5 batters, and yielding no runs. At the plate, Choi Jeong-won, the team’s second batter and center fielder, contributed to the win with 3 hits in 4 at-bats and 1 RBI.
KT broke their seven-game winning streak. Starting pitcher So Hyeong-jun engaged in a tough pitching duel, striking out eight batters in seven innings. Nevertheless, in the eighth inning, with the score tied 0-1, Asian-quota pitcher Sugimoto, who had gotten two outs, conceded three straight hits and allowed two runs.
Lotte had initially named Na Kyun-an as the starting pitcher, but he was unable to play due to a stomach issue, resulting in a 1-9 loss against SSG. Rookie Kim Han-gyeol stepped in as the substitute starter and performed reasonably well, yielding 4 runs in 4 and 1/3 innings. He struck out five batters, allowed just two hits, but also issued three walks. The team’s bullpen then conceded an additional five runs, while the offense failed to score, leading to their defeat. SSG’s high school rookie Kim Min-jun maintained his strong performance for the fourth straight game, giving up only one run in six innings.
At Gocheok, Kiwoom beat LG with a score of 4-3. In the top of the eighth inning, with the game tied at 1-1, LG’s Moon Jeong-bin hit a two-run home run to gain the lead. However, Kiwoom quickly scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth to win. In Jamsil, where Hanwha played against Doosan, the match went into the 10th inning with the score at 3-3.
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