KIA finished the regular season with the game against the NC Dinos, the 2024 professional baseball league, held at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field on Sept. 30. It came from behind to win 10-5, finishing first in the regular league with 87 wins, two draws and 55 losses and a 610-3 victory rate. Starting today, Kia aims to win its 12th Korean Series title against the playoff winner.
Although the final game of the season between the NC Dinos and the Lotte Giants is left, Kia has secured two valuable titles in the mound. Foreign pitcher James Nail confidently ranked first with an earned run average (ERA) of 2.53. Closer Jung Hae-young became the “save king” with 31 saves. They are each the first title holders.
In the Tigers’ history, the ERA category was that of former coach Sun Dong-yeol. He has won the title eight times in his career. From 1985 to 1991, he topped the list for seven consecutive years and acquired the title in 1993. Even though he is the closing pitcher, he surpassed the regulation innings and set a record of 0.78 and 10,000. Later, former general manager Cho Kye-hyun won the title through a combination of 1.71 in 1995.
Since then, the Tigers’ ERA has rarely appeared, and Yoon Seok-min became the title holder in 13 years with a record of 2.33 in 2008. In 2011, he also claimed his second title with a record of 2,45. Yang, who succeeded the ace genealogy, was crowned ERA twice in 2015 and 2019. Nail has brought the title in five years.
Nails were lucky. He ended the season with a fractured jaw on Aug. 23. He surpassed the required innings to rank second in ERA. As NC Hearts, which had been atop at the time, suffered nine innings and nine earned runs in the last two games, Nails sat on top. Hart was removed from the roster on Sept. 27 and ended the season, and Nails’ No. 1 ranking has been confirmed. He was the first foreigners’ ERA in the Tigers’ history.
Chung also had good luck. When he was excluded from the list on June 24 due to shoulder pain, he ranked second with 21 saves. Oh Seung-hwan of the Samsung Lions, who was ranked first with 23 saves, suffered a slump by making a series of blon saves, and finally gave up his position as the closing pitcher. After returning from a hiatus of 43 days, Jung made a save march to 31 saves, and confirmed his No. 1 ranking without a pursuer. He is the first save king of the Tigers in 26 years since Lim Chang-yong in 1998.
With his rehabilitation going smoothly, Nail is likely to be the starting pitcher for the first round of the Korean Series. Manager Lee Bum-ho plans to operate a strong bullpen if Nail keeps him at 70 to 80 pitches for about five innings. Jung Hae-young stands by as the closing pitcher. Pilseung teams including Kwak Do-gyu, Jang Hyun-sik, and Jeon Sang-hyun will take charge of each inning, and Jung Hae-young will take charge of the last back door. KIA needs two title holders to play an absolute role in order to win its 12th title. 토토사이트
Meanwhile, Kim Do-young, who had the best season ever, became the top scorer with 143 points in a single season, and also became the slugging rate king with .647. She also ranked third in batting average (.347), second in homers (38), third in most hits (189), third in on-base percentage (.420), sixth in stolen bases (40), and tied for sixth in RBIs (109).