James Nail gave up six runs, but his ERA was actually lower.
That’s because he didn’t give up a single earned run. It was one of those once-in-a-year games where he didn”t get much defensive help. It happened on May 2 at Champions Field in Gwangju.
The Kia Tigers sent their de facto No. 1 pitcher, Nail, to the mound and still couldn’t get the win. They committed five errors, the most in a game this season.
KIA lost 5-12 in their 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League home game against the KT Wiz at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on Feb. 2. Kia’s defense, which led the team in errors (35) the day before, was caught off guard.
The game started well. A sacrifice fly by Choi Hyung-woo in the first inning and back-to-back home runs by Lee Woo-sung and Han Jun-soo in the second chipped away at KT’s lead. But the nightmare began in the third inning.
The nightmare began in the top of the third inning when starting pitcher James Nail’s throw to second base on a grounder to first by Chun Sung-ho started the inning. Shortstop Park Chan-ho, who caught Kang Baek-ho’s grounder at first and third with a difficult fall, stole second, and the throw to first was thrown back to first base, allowing Kim Sang-soo to score from third.
With the score tied 3-3, the game quickly turned into a 5-3 game thanks to a fastball from KIA catcher Han Jun-soo that put runners on second and third, and an error by KIA third baseman Kim Do-young, who misplayed a ground ball out of bounds by Park Byung-ho.
In the top of the seventh, KT took advantage of a throwing error by KIA second baseman Seo Gun-chang to score Kang Baek-ho on a two-run double to left center to make it 6-3, and then carpet-bombed the KIA pitching staff for six more runs. The run included a throwing error by Kia center fielder Socrates Brito and an error by catcher Han Jun-soo.
The KIA Tigers have been struggling with their defense lately. In particular, this day was particularly egregious in that it was a relay of errors, both visible and invisible, from the catcher to every position in the infield. And at the center 사설토토 of it all is the fact that Park Chan-ho, the core of the infield, has been struggling offensively lately.
Kia’s surge in the second half of last year was largely due to the play of shortstop Park Chan-ho. In addition to his defensive steadiness, Park was an all-around performer, hitting and stealing bases. However, the lack of pace in the early part of the season has been a major struggle for KIA.
However, Kia can take solace in the fact that Na Sung-beom is finding his groove at the plate, hitting a single to left off Kim Min-soo in the eighth inning. Socrates Brito is also slowly building up to a May explosion, having hit safely in seven straight games.