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| photo courtesy of NC Dinos |
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The NC Dinos escaped from three consecutive losses by beating the KIA Tigers, their opponent in the semifinals.
NC won 5-4 in the first game of the weekend's three consecutive games against KIA at Changwon NC Park on the 8th thanks to Davison's two-run shot in the bottom of the sixth inning.
NC, which suffered a shock hit by being swept by the overwhelmingly lowest Kiwoom Heroes in three consecutive home weeks, met KIA and showed tremendous concentration to secure a valuable victory. On the contrary, KIA, which has achieved a winning series against the strong Lotte Giants in Busan during the week, failed to continue its upward trend. KIA, which heard the sad news that Kim Do-young complained of hamstring pain in the match against Lotte the previous day, and that his muscle was damaged again in a hospital examination conducted before the game, had no choice but to lose the team's atmosphere. With NC's victory on the day, the gap between the two teams was narrowed to 1.5 games.
It was a sweaty contest.
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| LG-KIA match held at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on the 23rd. KIA starter Kim Do-hyun is coming down after pitching in the first inning. Gwangju = Reporter Jeong Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2025.7.23/ |
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The side that gained the upper hand was NC. As soon as the start of the first inning, Kim Joo-won got on base with a heavy hit. KIA starter Kim Do-hyun began to shake his control rapidly, perhaps because he was embarrassed by a hit from the lead. He walked Choi Won-joon and gave up four pitches to Park Min-woo. a full-base crisis with no outs. Here, Davison made a sacrifice fly RBI, and Park Gun-woo hit a timely RBI single to the left. It was a strong hit, but it was a pity that KIA shortstop Park Chan-ho could not catch this ball.
KIA minimized the damage by treating Lee Woo-sung, who appeared next, as a double play. Lee Woo-sung, who returned to his home state NC from KIA in a trade at the end of last month, failed to appeal his presence to KIA due to a double play through.
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| In the game between KIA and Lotte at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan on the 7th, Kim Sun-bin hit a two-run homer to the left in the top of the 5th inning with no outs. Busan = Reporter's wook@sportschosun.com/2025.08.07/ |
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NC gave up two runs in the first inning and suffered three consecutive innings from the second inning to the fourth inning. Kim Do-hyun, who overcame the crisis with two runs in the first inning, survived. And KIA's chase began. In the fourth inning, No. 4 Choi Hyung-woo hit an RBI double of the chase in the chance obtained by a walk by the first Kim Sun-bin. KIA was disappointed that Na Sung-bum and Wisdom, who appeared next, were struck out in succession and failed to make an additional point, but they resolved the regret with a big shot. In the sixth inning, Kim Sun-bin hit a tiebreaking two-run shot against NC starter Riley, who was playing well. Single hitter Kim Sun-bin's home run is not easy to see, but when it's very important, it hit a home run. 2nd of the season and 2 consecutive shots.
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| photo courtesy of NC Dinos |
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However, NC teammates responded to Riley's fighting spirit. It's Riley, who couldn't even watch the game in the dugout after finishing the sixth inning at 3-3, and Davison made Riley smile broadly. Two-run shot against Kim Do-hyun. This became the final home run. And it was Davison's 20th home run of the season. The long-term departure was predicted due to the incontinence of the ribs, but returned at a miraculous recovery speed and hit home runs in three consecutive games over the weekend before starting the home run again.
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| The NC-Hanwha match at Hanwha Life Ball Park in Daejeon on the 2nd. Ryu Jin-wook is delighted after inducing a double play in the bottom of the 9th inning. Daejeon = Reporter Jeong Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2025.7.2/ |
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KIA had its last chance, and NC had a desperate crisis in the top of the eighth inning. NC put left-hander Kim Young-kyu in the eighth inning, but Park Chan-ho and Kim Sun-bin had consecutive hits. Choi Hyung-woo appeared in the first and second base chances with no outs. With Choi Hyung-woo's walk, the bases loaded with no outs. However, Na Sung-bum's strikeout poured cold water on him. Wisdom, who struck out the previous three at-bats, made a sacrifice fly RBI, but NC had a precipitation to put closer Ryu Jin-wook early and even Kim Ho-ryeong struck out, failing to turn the tables.
Ryu Jin-wook also took the mound in the ninth inning with a one-run difference and secured his 22nd save of the season. On the 6th, he shook off the pain of losing the first ⅔ inning against Kiwoom with valuable saves.
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| NC-Hanwha match held at Hanwha Life Ball Park in Daejeon on the 1st. NC starter Riley is praising catcher Kim Hyung-joon's ball mix. Daejeon = Reporter Jeong Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2025.7.1/ |
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NC starter Riley pitched 115 pitches in 6 innings on the same day due to bullpen overload caused by blood clots in Kiwoom's 3 consecutive games during the week. It seemed that he did not meet the requirements for victory by going down in a 3-3 situation, but Davison's winning shot exploded dramatically and won his 13th win (five losses) of the season. He is chasing Ponce (Hanwha), the leader of 14 wins, again.
NC won, but it was 'T in the top of the ninth inning that it failed to make a wedge due to a double steal failure and Choi Won-joon's checker at the first and third bases with no outs.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
