“The batting was really good”.
The KIA Tigers are back in the black. They won 9-3 against the Hanwha Eagles on Friday at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field. The Tigers have won their last three games in a row to clinch the series. They moved to 44 wins, 43 losses, and one tie on the season.
Starter Thomas Pannoni was outstanding. He allowed three runs on seven hits and two walks with 10 strikeouts in 6⅔ innings. He allowed one run in the top of the seventh inning, but gave up two more as he reached 100 pitches. He was aggressive from the start, effectively shutting down the Hanwha bats and earning two wins. Most importantly, he pitched 6⅔ innings for the second consecutive game, giving the bullpen a boost.
The Tigers scored four runs off Han Seung-hyuk in the first inning and added five more in the seventh to seal the win. Kim Do-young hit a leadoff single in the first inning. Na Sung-beom had two hits and two RBIs, Kim Sun-bin had two hits and two RBIs, Kim Tae-gun had two hits and two RBIs, and Kim Ho-ryung had two hits and one RBI.
The seventh inning was an interesting one. After scoring a run and loading the bases, Kim Tae-gun and Kim Ho-ryung were left on base with no outs. They had Choi Hyung-woo and Socrates Brito on the bench, but they pushed through. Kim Tae-gun doubled to center and Kim Ho-ryung doubled to right-center to score three runs and seal the win.
Manager Kim Jong-guk said, “Although Panoni gave up three runs, he minimized the use of the bullpen by going 6.2 innings. I think it will be a big help for our bullpen tomorrow. He’s starting to look like the innings-eater the manager was hoping for. I also want to praise Jang Hyun-sik, who pitched in a one-run crisis and got out of the situation with a clean pitch.” 메이저사이트
He also praised the batting lineup. “The batsmen’s concentration has been really good lately. When we need extra runs, we are sure to get them. After taking a four-run lead in the top of the first inning, we were down to one run, but in the bottom of the seventh inning, the offense came together once again to score five runs and win the game. It was great to see the offense come together in the bottom of the seventh to score five runs and win the game,” said Kim.
“We had a lot of fans join us for the weekend, and we will try to play as well tomorrow as we did today. Thank you to all the players for doing their best,” he said, promising a fourth straight win.