'All-in' KIA: "We will play the Lotte series like the postseason" — Full-scale battle declared. Why Manager Lee Beom-ho? [Busan on-site]

*This content was translated by AI.

For now, it's all-in for two games. KIA Tigers Manager Lee Beom-ho has declared a full-scale battle.

KIA will face Lotte in an away game of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League regular season at Busan Sajik Baseball Stadium on the 7th at 6:30 p.m.

KIA currently holds sole fourth place in the league with a record of 44 wins, 2 draws, and 37 losses this season. However, they recently lost both games against NC Dinos over the weekend, falling into a two-game losing streak. After taking two days off due to rainout cancellations on the 5th, the team moved to Gwangju. They have narrowed the gap with third-place KT Wiz to just 1.5 games.

For today's game, KIA set its starting lineup as follows: Park Jae-hyun (left fielder), Kim Do-young (third baseman), Castro (designated hitter), Na Sung-beom (right fielder), Han Jun-soo (catcher), Park Sang-jun (first baseman), Kim Sun-bin (second baseman), Kim Kyu-sung (shortstop), and Kim Ho-ryeong (center fielder). Starting pitcher is Kim Tae-hyung. There are no changes to the first-team roster.

Before the game, KIA Manager Lee Beom-ho discussed Lotte's three-game series starting pitcher plan: "On the 8th, Neil will start; on the 9th, (Yang) Hyun-jong will pitch. After Hyun-jong, we plan to immediately follow with (Hwang) Dong-ha."

The manager continued, "Starting today, we intend to operate these two games as tightly as a postseason series. If Taehyung collapses early, there's nothing we can do, but if he pitches well through the fourth inning, we plan to immediately bring in one reliever from the fifth inning onward. Of course, if he goes four innings, he might even reach the fifth. We are thinking of using up our entire bullpen over today and tomorrow's two games as if they were postseason contests, even if it means having only Hyun-jong and Dong-ha left for the final day, we will try to get through both games somehow."

Manager Lee added, "This is the last game of the first half. Last season, we struggled around this time as well. We believe that by finishing this three-game series well, we won't have to walk the same path we took last year. Although there are no injuries now, players will return in the second half. We plan to align our schedule accordingly for these three games."

The manager further stated, "The pitchers have also rested for two days. Since everyone is coming off a two-day break, we intend to operate tightly."

Meanwhile, facing KIA today, Lotte set its starting lineup as follows: Hwang Sung-bin (center fielder), Go Seung-min (first baseman), Reyes (left fielder), Han Dong-hee (designated hitter), Park Chan-hyung (third baseman), Jeon Min-jae (shortstop), Han Tae-yang (second baseman), Jang Du-seong (right fielder), and Son Seong-bin (catcher). Starting pitcher is Rodriguez.

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*This content was translated by AI.