As the Kia Tigers moved within a win of capturing their 12th Korean Series title Saturday, starting pitcher James Naile and his catcher Kim Tae-gun did the heavy lifting on the road. Behind Kim's grand slam and Naile's solid work over 5 2/3 innings, the Tigers defeated the Samsung Lions 9-2 in Game 4 of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) championship round at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, 235 kilometers southeast of Seoul. The Tigers now lead the best-of-seven series 3-1 and can clinch their first championship since 2017 in Game 5 on Monday at home, Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in Gwangju, 270 kilometers south of Seoul. The Tigers blew the game wide open with a six-spot in the top of the third, turning a 1-0 game into a 7-0 blowout. Socrates Brito fired the opening salvo with a two-run single with the bases loaded against starter Won Tae-in. Then a sacrifice bunt and a walk loaded the bases again. The game had a surprising twist when Won was pulled due to what the Lions said later was a shoulder p roblem. He had thrown 78 pitches to get seven outs, after tossing five shutout innings on 66 pitches in Monday's Game 1. Reliever Song Eun-beom got the first out but couldn't get past Kim Tae-gun, who turned on a 1-2 slider for his first career postseason home run and his first grand slam. This was the fifth grand slam in Korean Series history and before Kim, his current manager, Lee Bum-ho, had been the last to hit it -- in Game 5 of the 2017 Korean Series for the Tigers. This is Kim's third Korean Series appearance but first as a Tiger. While with the NC Dinos in 2016, he batted 1-for-10 in a four-game sweep at the hands of the Doosan Bears. The Dinos won the 2020 Korean Series over the Bears, but Kim, while on the roster, did not appear in any game then. At 34, Kim is finally playing a lead role. Through four games, Kim is batting 5-for-13 with a home run, two doubles and a team-high six RBIs. Kim's grand slam spotted Naile a 7-0 lead. While he wasn't dominant, the right-hander was efficient in keepi ng the Lions at bay and easily won the rematch against his counterpart, Won Tae-in, after the two aces dueled in Game 1. In the bottom first, Naile gave up a one-out single to Ryu Ji-hyuk, who stole second and advanced to third on a groundout. Naile then struck out Lewin Diaz with the sweeper, his bread-and-butter pitch. Naile got five of his seven strikeouts with the sweeper, fooling Lions hitters with sharp movements of the pitch. Naile allowed his first run in the bottom fourth on Kim Young-woong's two-out single, but with runners at the corners, Naile struck out the dangerous Lee Sung-gyu with -- what else? -- his sweeper at 1-2 count. Lee Jae-hyeon led off the bottom fifth with a solo homer off Naile, who quickly settled down and retired the next three batters. Naile opened the sixth by striking out Diaz but got the hook after Kim Hun-gon's double. His pitch count was only at 71 -- 32 two-seam fastballs, 30 sweepers, five cutters and two changeups. Before the game, Tigers manager Lee Bum-ho said he wouldn't put any restriction on Naile and he hoped the American ace would throw around 100 pitches to save the bullpen. But with a comfortable 7-2 lead, the Tigers chose to rest Naile and give their relievers some work, with a day off scheduled for Sunday. Naile missed the final month or so in the regular season, after suffering a broken jaw when he was struck by a line drive on Aug. 24. He said before Friday's game that having additional time off in the late weeks of the season "allowed my arm to freshen up a little bit." Kim Tae-gun had said earlier in the week that Naile's sweeper had looked even sharper in scrimmages before the Korean Series than it had been during the regular season. And the Lions' hitters could attest to that, as they struck out 13 times in 10 2/3 innings against Naile over two games. Source: Yonhap News Agency
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