The Kia Tigers extended their winning streak to nine games. Head coach Kim Jong-guk made no secret of his desire for a 10th straight win.
The Tigers defeated the Doosan Bears of the 2023 KBO League 7-1 on Saturday at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul. They scored seven runs in the third and fourth innings alone. Na Sung-beom and Kim Do-young hit back-to-back two-run homers. Starting pitcher Thomas Panoni pitched six innings of three-hit ball to earn his fourth win of the season.
KIA has won nine straight games from last month’s game against KT Wiz on June 24 to today’s game against Doosan. It took them a whopping 3730 days to accomplish this feat, which they did from June 8, 2013 against the Nexen Heroes (now the Kiwoom Heroes) to June 20 against the Daejeon Hanwha Eagles.
Their batting and mound, mobility and defense are all in harmony. No gaps. Both KT Wiz manager Lee Kang-cheol and Doosan Bears manager Lee Seung-yup acknowledged KIA’s skyrocketing momentum.
Kia manager Kim Jong-kook, who led the team to its ninth straight win, said, “It was a good performance from both sides of the plate. Starting pitcher Panoni did his job well, throwing six shutout innings. I think our aggressiveness in favorable ball counts was the main factor.” “I think Na Sung-beom’s leadoff home run in the third inning was a big momentum 토토 builder. Then, in the top of the fourth inning, Park Chan-ho singled, followed by Kim Do-young’s home run and Socrates Brito’s RBI single, and we were able to complete the big inning and win the game.”
KIA will look to extend its winning streak to 10 games against Doosan on July 7. Manager Kim Jong-kook said, “It’s encouraging that both the bats and the pitchers are in good form. We’ll do our best tomorrow,” he said.