Doosan beat the KIA Tigers 3-1 in the final game of the season in the ‘2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League’ held at Jamsil Baseball Stadium on the 13th. Doosan, ranked fifth, continued its race for third place with 73 wins, 65 losses and two draws in the season. Doosan finished this year by far ahead of KIA with 12 wins and 4 losses. 토토사이트
Sixth-ranked KIA recorded 71 wins, 69 losses and two draws in the season, widening its gap with Doosan to three games. KIA can win up to 73 games if it wins all two remaining games, so there is still a possibility of challenging the fall baseball. KIA will play its last two games against NC in Gwangju on the 16th and 17th, and if SSG Landers, NC and Doosan, which will compete for third place before the 16th, win more than 74 games, KIA will be eliminated from the fifth round.
Doosan manager Lee Seung-yeop and KIA manager Kim Jong-kook declared their all-out war on the same day. It was important for Doosan to secure as many wins as possible to compete for third place, and KIA had to win the day to continue its hope for the fifth round.
Regarding starter Kwak Bin’s preparation, manager Lee Seung-yeop said, “Kwakbin keeps throwing (without restrictions on pitching innings) as long as he has good pitching power. It is said that there are very slight symptoms when preparing for the game, but it seems that it is not a situation that cannot be thrown in the game. Today (13th) is the day we’ve fully matched with Bin. “Bin said it was okay today, so I prepared for the game today,” he said.
“We lost two of the last eight consecutive games of the regular season and won yesterday (11-1 against NC on the 12th) once. Every single game is important. Yesterday, (Park) Chi-guk and (Hong) Kun-hee threw, but (Kim) Kang Yul, (Jung) Cheol-won, and (Kim) Myung-shin also saved it. I think it would be good if Bin throws a lot and the batting line explodes. “If Bin only drags a long inning, I don’t think he’s weak compared to the other team,” he said emphatically.
Head coach Kim Jong-kook said, “I’ve been doing it thinking it’s the last game. We have no tomorrow. I’m going to start all the players with the mindset that I have to win today. The bullpen is also trying to prepare everyone to warm up quickly at any time. Doosan is likely to have more pressure. Doosan has tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, but we don’t have tomorrow, he stressed.
I had high expectations on starting pitcher Kim Geon-guk. Coach Kim said, ” (Kim) Gun-guk has recently pitched well against LG and NC, and he has a lot of experience in starting.” “Kim Geon-guk was still an experienced player, so I thought he would be better than (Hwang) Dong-ha,” he said, hoping to save a team that was pushed to the brink.