Kia Tigers players celebrate their 6-5 win over the Samsung Lions in their Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game at Samsung Lions Park in the southeastern city of Daegu on Sept. 1, 2024. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Sept. 2 (Korea Bizwire) — With consecutive comeback victories over their top rival on the weekend, the Kia Tigers have inched closer to their first regular-season crown in South Korean baseball in seven years.
The Tigers sit atop the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) standings at 75-49-2 (wins-losses-ties), following two straight road wins over second-place Samsung Lions, who are now 6 1/2 games back at 69-56-2.
On Saturday, the Tigers rallied from multiple deficits for a 15-13 victory at Samsung Lions Park in the southeastern city of Daegu. The Tigers pounded out 18 hits, including three homers.
Then the following day, the Tigers were down 5-0 after three innings before scoring six unanswered runs for a 6-5 win, on the strength of 16 hits.
Third baseman Kim Do-yeong, in the midst of a historic season, launched his 35th home run of the season.
All season long, the Tigers have defeated second-place teams whenever they threatened to get close. Back in April, it was the NC Dinos that lost two out of three against the Tigers after moving within two games of the lead. The Dinos then dropped two straight games against the Tigers in May to fall from second to third place.
In late May, the Doosan Bears were in a virtual tie for first with the Tigers, before losing two out of three on the road.
In June and July, it was the LG Twins’ turn to run into the wall that is the Tigers after briefly sniffing the top spot.
The Twins fell to third place after getting swept at home by the Tigers from Aug. 16 to 18 and haven’t been back up to second place since then.
After the weekend, the Tigers improved to 10-4 against the Lions for the season. They had also won two straight games against the Lions in mid-July, while the Lions were in second place.
In all, the Tigers have won 15 out of 17 games against second-place teams so far this year.
With 18 games remaining, the Tigers’ magic number for the best regular-season record is down to 12. Once a combination of the Tigers’ wins and the Lions’ losses reach 12, the Tigers will secure their first pennant since 2017.
The team with the top regular-season record will earn a bye to the Korean Series. The Tigers have gone a perfect 11-for-11 in the championship series so far.
The Tigers’ pitching staff has been decimated by injuries, none more devastating than the broken jaw suffered by No. 1 starter James Naile, who will miss the rest of the regular season after taking a comebacker to the face on Aug. 24. But the Tigers still have the lowest team ERA with 4.50.
They have been outscoring whatever pitching problems they’ve experienced all season. They are the only team batting .300, and they are tops in the KBO with 749 runs, 1,353 hits and an .831 on-base plus slugging.
Kim, the 20-year-old wunderkind, is on the cusp of just the second 40-40 season in KBO history. He has 35 homers and 36 steals in what will likely end up as an MVP season. He is already the youngest member of the 30-30 club.
Kim is also two RBIs away from becoming the third player ever with a .300 batting average, 30 homers, 30 steals, 100 runs and 100 RBIs.
Kim has scored 124 times, with no one else having hit the century mark yet, and he can thank veteran Choi Hyoung-woo for bringing him home so often. Choi, at 40, is second overall in the league with 102 RBIs, his first 100-RBI season since 2020. Choi is the all-time leader in that category with 1,644 and counting.
(Yonhap)
