3rd place ace in the league and got picked as a substitute...Round of 5? KIA's 9th place is about to fall
Sep 04, 2025
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KIA lost 1-2 at the match against Gwangju SSG Landers on Sunday. Kia, ranked eighth in the league, lost four consecutive games and posted 57 wins, four draws and 63 losses in the season. The Samsung Lions and KT Wiz, who are tied for fourth place, are now in the fourth game. There are only 20 games left in the regular season. Unless there is a miracle that the fifth-tier team suddenly falls into a losing streak, the possibility of KIA having a chance to advance to the fifth round has become slim.
It's time to worry about a ninth-place drop. It has narrowed down to 2.5 games with ninth-ranked Doosan.
It's a disappointing loss by one point, but KIA was a must-win game. Nail is classified as the league's top ace along with Hanwha Eagles Cody Ponce and SSG Drew Anderson. He has a 2.32 ERA, ranking third in the league after Ponce (1.76) and Anderson (2.11). He should have won 10 games earlier, but he is also an unlucky ace who has only won 8 games (4 losses) because his team has not achieved a performance.
For KIA, it was also the last chance to win. It's because ace James Nail took only four days off and pitched. Nail started against Suwon KT on the 29th of last month and threw 98 pitches in 7 innings. Considering the four-day rest, he threw a lot of balls, but since KIA's situation was so desperate, Nail also accepted the team's decision.
SSG faced off with substitute starter Choi Min-joon. Choi Min-joon joined the starting rotation at the end of July after being in the bullpen this year. He only passed five innings once against Hanwha (five ⅔ innings) on the 22nd of last month. Since three innings were the limit, KIA had to score as many points as possible to Choi Min-joon while Nail kept the mound and get an early substitute to win.
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Nail only gave up two runs with 94 pitches, 10 hits, two walks and five strikeouts in five innings, taking the loss. In both the second and third innings, Cho Hyung-woo was hit with a timely hit.
KIA is at the bottom with only 12 wins, 1 draw and 23 losses in the second half. From the match against LG in Gwangju on July 22 to the match against Doosan in Gwangju on July 29, it was hit hard by losing seven consecutive games, and from the match against Kiwoom in Gwangju on the 20th of last month to the match against SSG in Incheon on the 26th of last month. And now it's the fourth consecutive defeat.
KIA threw a winning move once more on the 4th. Adam Oler, the second foreign starter, was also allowed to take a four-day break and start on the same day. SSG will be pitched by Mitch White. White is a tricky pitcher with a 2.80 ERA. KIA should break its losing streak and prevent the humiliation of last year's champion falling to ninth place, as the fifth round is far away.
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This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
