"There is no other foreign investor who would be prouder of leading the league in innings pitched than winning 10 games," says the ace returning to KIA, completing the construction of its strongest starting rotation during the AG vacancy period.

*This content was translated by AI.

"It is the starting pitcher's most important role to maintain the momentum when the team is on a winning streak."

KIA Tigers foreign pitcher James Nail (33) fulfilled the role of ace as he himself stated.

Nail made his start in the home game against KT at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field on the 6th, pitching six innings with nine hits allowed, one walk, four strikeouts, and two earned runs, leading KIA to an 8-3 victory. With this win, KIA swept all three weekend games against KT, improving their record to 66 wins, two draws, and 52 losses. They closed the gap to just half a game behind third-place LG Twins, who also suffered a loss on the same day.

It was not a completely dominant pitching performance. Instead, he relied on inducing double plays in every critical situation to cover six innings. On this day, Neill mixed his four-seam fastball (two pitches), cutter (19 pitches), changeup (18 pitches), sweeper (23 pitches), and two-seam fastball (31 pitches) with a top speed of 149 km/h, throwing a total of 93 pitches.

He gave up consecutive hits to Heo Kyung-min and Kim Sang-soo in the second inning, and his defense was not smooth during Han Seung-taek's two-run single to center field, leading to his first run allowed. Nevertheless, he remained steady. He struck out Kwon Dong-jin with a sweeper and fielded Choi Won-joon's grounder himself to prevent additional runs.

In the third inning with one out and runners on first and second, Kim Hyun-soo was induced into a double play. After allowing a run in the sixth inning, he faced another crisis with one out and runners on first and second, but he again induced a double play from Han Seung-taek, completing his quality start (QS: six or more innings pitched by a starting pitcher with three or fewer earned runs).

After the game, Neill said, "I am happy to have swept a difficult team," and added, "Today was a satisfying game as I played my role in maintaining our winning momentum."

Catcher Kim Tae-gun (37) was cited as the key to their coordination. Neill said, "When we faced critical situations in the third and sixth innings, I told Tae-gun to handle one each. Since I am a pitcher who induces many ground balls, if I can draw out the opposing batters' swings, the results will follow, so I told him to trust my lead. He followed that lead, and we were able to end the inning with a double play," expressing his gratitude.

His recent form has fully returned. Although he struggled with a 6.26 ERA over five games in July, he has recorded six consecutive quality starts (QS) for more than a month since then. His ERA since August is 2.90. With this win, his season record stands at 10 wins and 6 losses in 26 games with a 3.66 ERA, 152⅔ innings pitched, and 126 strikeouts. He became the third player in KIA history to achieve double-digit wins, following Adam Oller (32) and Yang Hyeon-jong (38).

It has been six years since two foreign pitchers for Kia recorded 10 wins each in a single season, following Aaron Brooks and Drew Gagnon in 2020. As a result, Kia became the first team this year to produce three starting pitchers with 10 wins in a single season.

However, there was a number that made Nail the most proud. He expressed his joy, saying, "With today's game on the 6th, I have become the leader in innings pitched in the league. That is something I am proud of myself. My goal for this season was to be the pitcher who throws the most innings in the league."

He is currently on a pace of around 183 innings, heading toward the league lead in total innings. Neill said that rather than throwing many innings, it was actually more difficult when he was unable to appear for about two weeks due to extreme heat and rain. He explained, "It was tough because my routine felt disrupted then. Now that I have found my routine again, my physical condition is improving," adding, "The fact that I threw a 149 km/h fastball in the fifth inning today is evidence of my good physical condition."

Nei's rebound is even more welcome for KIA. Once the game concludes on the 14th, Kim Do-young (23), Park Jae-hyun (20), and Sung Young-tak (20) will join the representative team for the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games (AG). This creates a significant void in both the lineup and the bullpen. With the remaining schedule sparsely arranged, it becomes even more critical for each team to possess a solid four-man starting rotation.

In that regard, KIA is strong. With a starting pitcher ERA of 3.30 since August, they rank second in the league. They have held firm with Oller (1.71), Neil (2.90), Yang Hyeon-jong (2.76), and Kesho Shirakawa (3.68) following Oller's lead during the same period.

The Doosan team, which leads the league in starting pitcher ERA, will also lose Kwak Bin (27) and Choi Min-seok (20) during the Asian Games period. KT, ranked second, will similarly have key pitchers So Hyoung-jun (25), Oh Won-seok (25), and Park Young-hyun (23) called up to the national team. As of the conclusion on the 6th, KIA trails third-place LG by 0.5 games and second-place KT by 4.5 games. Depending on how they fare during the period when players are called up to the national team, they may still have a chance to aim for even higher positions.

Nail, who managed only eight wins last year, finally achieved double-digit victories this season. However, his gaze is already set on his next appearance. "I am not satisfied with 10 wins and want to move toward even better records," Nail said. "There are many important games remaining as we aim for a playoff berth. I intend to show my best form until I throw the final pitch of the season."

This is the reason why KIA can remain confident in its race for standings even during the brief absence of Kim Do-young and Park Jae-hyun. With Neill, who has recorded six consecutive quality starts, now included, KIA has assembled a top-tier starting rotation that will not easily be overpowered by any opponent.

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*This content was translated by AI.