KIA Tigers passed the second hurdle. Foreign hitter Socrates Brito (31) survived.
KIA started as the third hitter and center fielder in the second game of the three-week series against the Samsung Lions in the 2023 KBO League held at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on the 17th, leading the team to a 7-6 victory with 2 hits and 2 points in 5 at-bats. . He got a hit in the first at-bat with one out and first base in the top of the first inning, and in the second at-bat in the third inning, which was 0-0, he called in a runner on third base with an infield grounder and scored an RBI안전놀이터. It was the final match of this match. In the 5th inning, in the absence of a runner, the opponent starter Albert Suarez’s 137 km/h (left-handed hitter) raised the low course slider and crossed the right fence.
KIA, who suffered 5 consecutive losses from the SSG Landers match on the 10th, secured a winning series (2 wins or more in 3 matches) by capturing the 2nd match following the 1st match with Samsung on the 16th. KIA, which was ranked at the bottom (10th place) until the second week of April, rebounded by winning 9 wins (2 losses) in 11 matches played against Samsung on April 21st. Recently, the offensive power of the other line has subsided and struggled, but starting pitchers Sean Anderson and Yoon Young-cheol played an active role and bullpen pitcher Choi Ji-min struggled to establish a foothold for victory.
Socrates hit a home run in two consecutive games following the first game on the 16th. He also recorded two or more RBIs in two consecutive games for the first time all season.
Socrates showed off his ‘fire bat’ from May last season as well. This season, at the end of April, he hit multi-hits in four consecutive games, foreshadowing the ‘promised May’. However, the scheduled 4 games from the match against the Lotte Giants on the 4th were postponed due to rain, and in the meantime, the sense of hitting cooled down. In six games starting from the match against SSG on the 9th, the batting average was only 0.167. When the team’s performance was also sluggish with 1 win and 5 losses, the head coach Kim Jong-guk hoped for Socrates’ fight.
Socrates responded to this. It was the first multi-hit game since the forced break (4 games delayed by rain). In particular, the home run hit against Suarez in the 5th inning of the second game (17th) raised expectations by producing a home run with his unique light yet strong swing.
In May, the KIA deployed Park Chan-ho, who has a good batting feel, as the first batter, and Choi Hyeong-woo, who has a good batting feel, at the fourth. Socrates showed his presence both in front of and behind Choi Hyeong-woo (3rd and 5th) in the first and second games of the Samsung three-game series. As of the 17th, the season’s batting average is 0.277. Heading for 30% again.