2G consecutive 10Ks →4G consecutive 4Rs↑…Sanchez loses early momentum
The Kia Tigers are battling the Doosan Bears for fifth place. New foreign pitcher Mario Sanchez, 29, has been struggling with too many bad outings.
KIA earned a 6-5 road win against the Samsung Lions of the 2023 KBO League at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on April 19. Trailing 1-5 in the top of the seventh inning, the offense rallied to take the lead, and the pitching duo of Choi Ji-Man and Lim Ki-Young held on to the lead without allowing an earned run. KIA improved to 48 wins and two ties on the season, tied for fifth place with Doosan.
The batting lineup, one of the team’s strengths, showed a focused offense again. In the top of the seventh inning, Socrates Brito led off with a double to right off Choi Chae-heung, and Kim Sun-bin followed with a single against the new pitcher, Lee Seung-hyun. Lee grounded out to shortstop Lee Chang-jin, but the shortstop’s throwing error allowed a run to score. Lee Woo-sung, who came to bat, hit a two-run home run against Lee Jae-ik to cut the deficit to 4-5, and Kim Do-young, who came on with the bases loaded, hit a triple to reignite the rally. Park Chan-ho, who has been hitting well lately, singled to tie the game at 5-5, and Choi Won-joon hit a single off of reliever Lee Sang-min, sending Park to third base before Na Sung-beom hit a sacrifice fly to center field. 소닉카지노
KIA avenged a 2-12 loss in Game 1 the day before. However, there were some disappointments. Starting pitcher Sanchez was shaky, allowing five runs on eight hits and two walks in six innings.
In the bottom of the third inning, Sanchez gave up a leadoff single to Lee Jae-hyun, a single to Kim Hyun-joon, a walk to Kim Sung-yoon, and a grand slam to Koo Ja-rook over the right field fence. In the fourth inning, he gave up another run on a single to left to Kim Hyun-joon with two outs.San
Sanchez, who wore a KIA uniform as a substitute, made his debut on July 9 against the KT Wiz, pitching six and one-third innings of one-run ball. He struck out 10 and walked none. In his next start, against the Doosan Bears on July 21, he gave up four runs in six and two-thirds innings while striking out 10.
However, in all four of his August starts, he gave up more than four runs. He gave up seven runs on 10 hits against Samsung on July 1, and four runs in four and a third innings against the Hanwha Eagles on July 6. Against the Lotte Giants on the 13th, he gave up five runs (one earned) due to fielding errors. He tried to rebound against the Samsung Electronics on the same day, but fell apart early again. The good news is that he went six innings.
After striking out double-digit batters in the first two games, he gave up three home runs. There were a lot of games where mistakes led to long balls. Against Samsung on the 19th, catcher Kim Tae-gun ordered his changeup low. He was wary of making a mistake as he tried to keep it down the middle. But the ball went into center field.
Kim Hyun-jun, who allowed three hits in the first game against Samsung on the first day, was hit by two hits again today. He also gave up two hits and a walk to Ryu Ji-hyuk, who had a home run and a double on the first day.
Ace Yang Hyun-jong was dropped from the first team due to his recent struggles, and Yoon Young-chul has been up and down. Lee Yi-ri has been splitting time, but the starting rotation hasn’t been up to par. The firepower is hard to sustain. The key to Kia’s chances of reaching the top five is the starting lineup.