Kim Do-yeong of the Kia Tigers celebrates after hitting a grand slam in opposition to the LG Twins throughout Sport 3 of the primary spherical within the Korea Baseball Group postseason at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap
With every passing recreation and every ball leaving the yard, Kia Tigers slugger Kim Do-yeong retains rising in his stature as a clutch performer.
Kim made an emphatic assertion on his greatness Tuesday, as he hammered a grand slam to energy the Tigers previous the LG Twins 13-1 in Sport 3 of their best-of-five Korea Baseball Group (KBO) postseason sequence.
His blast capped a seven-run second inning for the Tigers, who cruised to a straightforward win to finish their three-game sweep.
Kim, who completed the sequence with three residence runs and eight RBIs in three video games, was voted the sequence MVP. He collected 84 out of 97 votes for the honour.
The Tigers had been already up 3-0 when Kim stepped into the field within the high of the second, and issues had been unraveling rapidly for the Twins. Na Sung-bum had led off the inning with a solo residence run off starter Carlos Carrasco, who proceeded to load the bases on an error, a single and a stroll. An RBI single by Park Jung-woo chased Carrasco from the sport, and reliever Jon Kennedy allowed one other run-scoring single to the primary batter he confronted, Park Jae-hyun.
Then on a 1-1 depend, Kim drilled a four-seam fastball and despatched it 145 meters to middle discipline, with the ball reaching the higher a part of the stands. Based on the KBO, it tied the mark for the longest postseason residence run since recordkeeping began in 2000.
At 23 years and 18 days outdated, Kim additionally grew to become the youngest participant to hit a grand slam in a KBO postseason recreation, breaking the earlier report held by former Doosan Bears star Kim Dong-joo, who was 25 years, eight months and 22 days outdated when he hit his slam in 2001.
Kim did not report successful the remainder of the sport and was changed by a pinch hitter within the ninth, with the sport already out of attain. And the oversize influence of Kim’s grand slam was greater than sufficient to make him the brightest star of this sequence.
Kim led the common season with a career-high 45 residence runs, together with a two-run shot in opposition to the very Twins of their closing regular-season assembly on Oct. 12 that clinched the third seed for the Tigers.
He then smoked three extra residence runs in opposition to the Twins within the postseason.
Kim received the regular-season MVP award in 2024, the identical 12 months when the Tigers received the Korean Sequence title.
Kim, who ranked among the many league leaders in a number of different classes beside the house runs, is a robust contender for this 12 months’s MVP award. And after Tuesday’s victory, the Tigers are three wins away from returning to the Korean Sequence.
Kim homered twice within the Tigers 5-1 victory in Sport 1 on Saturday and knocked in 4 of the group’s 5 runs.
Afterward, Kim, talking in a measured tone extra befitting of a participant from the shedding aspect, mentioned he had a transparent understanding of his position — to ship in key spots — and he tried to maintain a easy strategy on the plate.
With one massive swing of the bat, Kim lived as much as his phrase Tuesday evening.
“This was a house run that the group wanted, and I felt fairly good about it,” Kim mentioned after Tuesday’s win, as soon as once more understating. “I’m surrounded by so many nice gamers, and I felt zero strain this sequence. I suppose that’s the reason I’ve been capable of put up massive numbers.”
Aside from his three residence runs in three video games, Kim didn’t have one other hit.
“That’s fairly unbelievable, now that I give it some thought,” Kim mentioned with a smile. “I truthfully don’t know how I’ve been hitting so many residence runs. I simply wish to thank my coaches for getting me prepared.”
As for incomes the sequence MVP honor, Kim mentioned, “I by no means imagined I’d be capable of win this. I wish to maintain taking part in effectively going ahead in order that I can reside as much as this MVP award.”
