KIM DO YOUNG's blood is pierced! Jung Hae-young made history beyond Ko Woo-seok. KIA stops Lotte from winning 5 consecutive games
May 13, 2025
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KIA beat the Lotte Giants 4-1 in Game 4 of the season at Gwangju Kia Champions Field on the 13th. Kia, ranked eighth, emerged from its second consecutive loss and recorded 18 wins and 21 losses in the season, laying the groundwork for its leap back to the mid-range. Lotte, ranked third, recorded 24 wins, 17 losses and two draws for the season.
KIA made the starting lineup against Lotte with Park Chan-ho (striker), Kim Sun-bin (second baseman), Kim Do-young (third baseman), Choi Hyung-woo (designated hitter), Lee Woo-sung (left fielder), Byun Woo-hyuk (first baseman), Jung Hae-won (right fielder), Han Seung-taek (catcher), and Park Jae-hyun (midfielder). The starting pitcher was Kim Do-hyun.
Patrick Wisdom, a foreign hitter, was largely absent. Wisdom suffered back pain while playing in the first doubleheader game against SSG Landers in Incheon on the 11th, and was canceled from the first-team entry on the 13th under the judgment that the game would be difficult for at least a week. With Na Sung-bum already out due to a hamstring injury, he left Wizdom, forcing Kim Do-young and Choi Hyung-woo to put more pressure on him.
Lotte faced off with Yoon Dong-hee (center fielder), Ko Seung-min (second baseman), Reyes (right fielder), Na Seung-yeop (first baseman), Jeon Joon-woo (left fielder), Son Ho-young (third baseman), Jung Hoon (designated hitter), Park Seung-wook (striker), and Information Geun (catcher). The starting pitcher was Davison.
Kim Do-hyun pitched like the most stable domestic starter in KIA. In five ⅓ innings, he pitched well with 87 pitches, four hits, two outs, one strikeout, and one run (non-ERR) to secure his second win (two losses) of the season. While actively utilizing curves (27) and two-seam fastballs (25), he mixed fastballs (16), changeups (11) and sliders (8). The maximum speed of the fastball was 150 kilometers. Kim Do-hyun was not particularly lucky to win despite his good pitching this season, but he won his second victory.
After Kim Do-hyun went down, Jeon Sang-hyun (1 ⅓ inning), Lee Joon-young (1 ⅓ inning), Cho Sang-woo (1 inning), and Jung Hae-young (1 inning) kept the victory by throwing scoreless.
Jung Hae-young, who is about to turn 24, made 10 saves this season, the youngest ever to make double-digit saves for five consecutive seasons. The previous record was held by Ko Woo-seok (former LG Twins), who was 25 years old at the time of the 2023 season. He has firmly maintained his position as KIA closer with 34 saves in 2021, 32 saves in 2022, 23 saves in 2023, and 31 saves in 2024. Jung Hae-young also achieved the youngest 100 saves in history at the Gocheok Kiwoom Heroes match on April 24 last year with 22 years, 8 months, and 1 day.
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Kim Do-hyun overcame the first crisis thanks to good defense. In the top of the second inning, Jeon Joon-woo, the leadoff hitter, got on base due to shortstop Park Chan-ho's catch error. Kim Do-hyun turned the next two hitters to make a two-out second base, and Park Seung-wook's ball headed over the right field. It was a long-shot ball, and right fielder Jung Hae-young stretched his arm to the end and ran up to snatch it to end the inning.
KIA's batting lineup, which failed to support scoring, finally broke out in the bottom of the fifth inning. Han Seung-taek and Park Chan-ho's hits gave them a chance to get first and second bases with one out. Kim Sun-bin swallowed the disappointment as he stepped down with a fly ball to right field, but the next batter was Kim Do-young. Kim Do-young hit a two-run timely double to give him a 2-0 lead. Choi Hyung-woo then hit a timely hit to the right of the center fielder to widen the distance to 3-0.
Kim Do-hyun also took the mound in the top of the sixth inning. He sent out leadoff hitter Ko Seung-min with a hit, but tied Reyes, a tricky hitter, with a fly ball to left field, to one out and one base. KIA bench hoped that Kim Do-hyun would finish the inning until the end, but Na Seung-yeop and Jeon Jun-woo were walked and threw four pitches, showing lack of strength.
With the bases loaded with one out, KIA replaced the mound with Jeon Sang-hyun. Jeon Sang-hyun induced Son Ho-young to fly to center field. A sacrifice fly was expected, but center fielder Park Jae-hyun made a catch error while enthusiastically thinking about the next defense. It was fortunate that only the third baseman scored and ended up chasing 3-1 because it was a one-out situation. Jeon Sang-hyun kept Kim Do-hyun's winning requirements by turning Jung Hoon into a double play at second base in a continued one-out full base crisis.
KIA beat Lotte's willingness to chase by overcoming the loss crisis in the top of the eighth inning. With setup man Cho Sang-woo on the mound, Na Seung-yeop's hit and Jeon Jun-woo's walk put him on the verge of first and second bases after one out. Lotte took out a pinch hitter Yoo Kang-nam card from Son Ho-young's at-bat and tried to fight back, but Yoo Kang-nam touched Cho Sang-woo's first pitch and poured cold water on him as he stepped down with a shortstop double play.
He scored an additional point in the bottom of the eighth inning to seal the victory. Leading hitter Kim Do-young opened the door with a left-handed hit. Lotte replaced the pitcher from Kim Kang-hyun to Song Jae-young, and changed the mound to Kim Sang-soo once more when Choi Hyung-woo walked and connected to the first and second bases with no outs. Lee Woo-sung got a walk and led to the bases loaded with no outs, and third baseman Kim Do-young scored to seal the 4-1 victory when Byun Woo-hyuk withdrew due to a double play by shortstop.
Meanwhile, Lotte starter Davison recorded a quality start with 108 pitches, seven hits, two outs, four strikeouts, and three runs in six innings, but took the first loss of the season (5 wins) as he was not supported by the batters.
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This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
