KIA Tigers and Doosan Bears meet at the threshold of fall. You can only smile when you overcome the void.
4th place KIA and 6th place Doosan will play a three-game series at Gwangju Kia Champions Field from the 15th to the 17th.
온라인바카라As of the 14th, the two teams have only played one game. KIA has been on a hot streak recently, but suffered a brief losing streak. They had a 9-game winning streak through early September, and last week also won 3 games and lost 1 game in a 4-game series against the league leader LG Twins. With a batting average of 0.321 in September, 76 runs, 16 home runs, and 24 stolen bases, he is monopolizing first place in the major batting categories.
However, their momentum faltered for a while due to consecutive losses to the lower-ranked Samsung Lions and Lotte Giants on the 12th and 13th. Starting shortstop Park Chan-ho’s finger injury leaves a huge gap. This season, he was the key player in the team’s offense, defense, and defense with a batting average of 0.302 and 29 stolen bases. Kim Do-young, who was a third baseman, can replace the shortstop defense, but there is a gap at third base.
Looking at recent momentum, Doosan is slightly better. They have 5 wins and 1 loss in the last 6 games. Like KIA, they had 3 wins and 1 loss in the 4-game series over the weekend, and also won 8-3 against the Hanwha Eagles on the 12th. This season, they achieved 8 wins and 4 losses (0.666 win rate) in 12 games against KIA. This is the highest winning percentage against KIA in professional baseball this year.
However, Doosan’s power is not complete either. On the 13th, Pil Seung-jo’s side arm eliminated Park Chi-guk from the first team entry. Park Chi-guk has 5 wins, 2 losses, 2 saves, 11 holds, and an ERA of 3.22 this season. Holds are second on the team after Kim Myung-shin (15), and his ERA is the lowest among the team’s bullpen.
Doosan coach Lee Seung-yeop said, “He said his shoulder was a little heavy. I was told that if there was no pain after 3 to 4 days, he would start playing catch.”
The team that fills the empty spots better will smile in the weekend series. In the game on the 13th when Park Chan-ho was missing, KIA attempted to replace him with Lee Woo-sung in attack and Choi Jeong-yong in defense. The lower-order batting lineup was thinned out, but Lee Woo-sung, who started as the second hitter, filled Chan-ho Park’s absence with multiple hits. If Kim Do-young, who is as good of a hitter as Park Chan-ho, is moved forward from number 2 to number 1, and Lee Woo-sung supports him, the batting line can maintain its existing offensive power.
Doosan’s key players are Kim Kang-ryul and Choi Ji-kang. Veteran Kim Kang-ryul, who returned from injury, is currently pitching well, allowing 1 run in 3 1/3 innings in the last 3 games. Second-year Choi Ji-gang also left no runs in 5 innings in 4 games after returning in September. Coach Lee Seung-yeop said, “There will be a loss because he played such an important role, but Kang Ryul is good and Ji Kang was the winning pitcher yesterday (against Hanwha on the 12th). We have no choice but to play the game with the players we have.”
There is another variable. There is rainfall forecast for the 15th and 16th in Gwangju, where the two teams will face off. If the game on Saturday the 16th is postponed due to rain, the game will be held on Monday the 18th. In this case, both teams must play without rest for 8 days from the 17th to the 24th.
Doosan, which ranked 9th last year, is desperate to enter 5th place. Doosan Yang Seok-hwan said ahead of the KIA game, “There are many important games left. The players haven’t discussed anything separately, but we don’t want to miss the game even if we are a little tired and sore. Because we know very well that it is an important time.” Kang Seung-ho said, “I’m conscious of the match-up, but I’m not too nervous. It’s much better (than last year) to be able to continue competing for rankings like this.”