Kia Tigers superstar Kim Do-yeong set a single-season runs scored record in South Korean baseball Monday, while inching closer to a rare 40-40 season.
Kim, the leading MVP candidate in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), scored three times to reach 138 runs for the season in a 5-3 victory over the Samsung Lions at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in the southwestern city of Gwangju. Kim broke the previous record held by his current teammate Seo Geon-chang, who scored 135 runs as a Kiwoom Hero in 2014.
Kim Do-yeong of the Kia Tigers rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run against the Samsung Lions during a Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game at Gwangju-Kia Champions field in the southwestern city of Gwangju on Sept. 23, 2024. (Yonhap)
Kim Do-yeong of the Kia Tigers rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run against the Samsung Lions during a Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game at Gwangju-Kia Champions field in the southwestern city of Gwangju on Sept. 23, 2024. (Yonhap)
Kim also homered and stole a bag in the victory, reaching 38 home runs and 40 steals for the year. He is now two homers away from becoming only the second player in KBO history with at least 40 homers and 40 steals in a season.
Former NC Dinos slugger Eric Thames was the first to pull off that feat in 2015.
Kim led off the game with a solo shot off starter Lee Seung-min in the bottom of the first, and broke a tie with Seo in the runs scored department.
In the bottom fifth, Kim drew a walk and then swiped second base for his 40th steal of the season. Kim came around to score on a single by Yoon Do-hyun.
Kim scored another run in the seventh inning.
Tigers manager Lee Bum-ho said last week that he would give Kim every opportunity to reach the 40-40 milestone for the remainder of the season, with the Tigers having already clinched the best regular-season record and a direct berth in the Korean Series. Kim, usually the Tigers’ No. 3 hitter, has been batting leadoff, with Lee trying to give the player as many at-bats as possible.
Kim is poised to become only the third player in league history to finish a season with a .300 batting average, 30 homers, 100 RBIs and 100 runs scored.
Source: Yonhap News Agency