The KIA Tigers in professional baseball completed a winning series with a powerful performance from ace James Nail and a homerun from problem solver Choi Hyung-woo.

KIA secured a narrow 4-2 victory against the NC Dinos in the ‘2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League’ regular season game held at Changwon NC Park on the 15th.

With this, KIA achieved a winning series with two consecutive wins, marking a season record of 34 wins, 33 losses, and 1 tie. NC is stuck at 29 wins, 33 losses, and 4 ties after losing two in a row.

KIA's starting lineup included Lee Chang-jin (left fielder), Park Chan-ho (shortstop), Wisdom (third baseman), Choi Hyung-woo (designated hitter), Hwang Dae-in (first baseman), Oh Sun-woo (right fielder), Kim Ho-ryeong (center fielder), Kim Tae-gun (catcher), and Park Min (second baseman). The starting pitcher was James Nail.

NC's starting lineup included Kim Joo-won (shortstop), Kwon Hee-dong (left fielder), Park Min-woo (second baseman), Davidson (first baseman), Park Gun-woo (designated hitter), Son Ah-seop (right fielder), Han Seok-hyun (center fielder), Ahn Jung-yeol (catcher), and Kim Han-byeol (third baseman).

The match featured a showdown between the foreign aces of both teams. The game tilted in favor of KIA with one swing. KIA scored first in the top of the third inning. In the first inning, Lee Chang-jin's single to right and Park Chan-ho's single to left created an opportunity with no outs and runners on first and second, but they could not capitalize. In the second inning, a chance with one out and runners on first and second after Kim Ho-ryeong's double was also wasted.

However, in the third inning with one out, Park Chan-ho's single to center and Wisdom's double to left field created an opportunity with one out and runners on second and third, which Choi Hyung-woo capitalized on. Choi Hyung-woo gained a favorable count against NC's starter Logan at 3B-1S and did not miss the 128 km slider that came into the strike zone on the fifth pitch. He hit the ball hard, sending a three-run homer over the right field fence, putting them ahead 3-0.

After that, the game flowed with little activity. NC's Logan also did not allow any runs after giving up the three-run homer and held the game until the sixth inning. He finished with a quality start pitching 6 innings, allowing 7 hits (1 homer), 1 walk, and striking out 10 while giving up 3 runs.

KIA needed additional runs but could not effectively attack Logan. In the sixth inning, after two outs, Wisdom's triple and Choi Hyung-woo's automatic walk created an opportunity with two outs and runners on first and third, but Choi Won-jun struck out.

It was not until the top of the seventh inning that they managed to add a run. A lead-off single from pinch hitter Kim Kyu-sung, followed by Lee Chang-jin's sacrifice bunt, created an opportunity with one out and a runner on second. Park Chan-ho struck out. But there was a wild pitch during Wisdom's at-bat. Wisdom walked, bringing the runners to first and third with two outs, and another wild pitch during Choi Hyung-woo's at-bat made it 4-0.

However, NC also began to seriously chase. After two outs in the seventh inning, Son Ah-seop earned a walk against Nail after a full count battle. KIA took Nail off the mound and brought in lefty Lee Jun-young. NC also substituted Kim Hwi-jip for Han Seok-hyun. NC's moves paid off. Kim Hwi-jip hit Lee Jun-young's first pitch, a 130 km slider, for a two-run homer to close the gap to 2-4. However, in a two-out, one-on situation after Ahn Jung-yeol's walk, NC missed the chance to continue their rally as pinch hitter Oh Young-soo struck out.

Nail left the mound after throwing 111 pitches over 6⅔ innings, allowing 1 hit, 1 walk, 1 hit-by-pitch, striking out 9, and giving up 1 run in a fierce performance.

KIA also could not break away. In the eighth inning after one out, Kim Tae-gun's single to center and Kim Kyu-sung's fortunate hit created an opportunity with one out and runners on first and second. A high fly ball to right field was misplayed by right fielder Son Ah-seop, who lost sight of the ball. However, opportunities evaporated with Lee Chang-jin's fly out to center and Park Chan-ho's strikeout.

In the bottom of the eighth, NC created a perfect opportunity with one out after Kwon Hee-dong's walk, Park Min-woo's single to right field, and Davidson being hit by a pitch, which loaded the bases. However, Park Gun-woo struck out, and Son Ah-seop popped out to center, wasting the chance to tie or even take the lead.

KIA's Jo Sang-woo, who came in from the seventh inning with two outs and a runner on first, managed to keep NC scoreless until the eighth inning after a tough battle. In the ninth, closer Jung Hae-young pitched for the second consecutive day, preserving the two-run lead and earning his 17th save of the season.

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