Kim Do-young (21), the "superstar" of the KIA Tigers in the professional baseball league, is one step closer to the milestone of 40 homers and 40 steals for the first time by a Korean player. KIA with Kim Do-young at the forefront has also started to secure its No. 1 ranking.

Kim Do-young hit his 35th homer of this season in an away game against the Samsung Lions on Sunday. As the first batter in the seventh inning when KIA was losing 3-5, he did not miss and pulled the ball when Samsung bullpen pitcher Choi Ji-kwang's fourth slider (136 kilometers per hour) rushed to the center with a ball count of 2 to 1 strike. The ball flew 130 meters and became a solo homer over the left fence. It was a signal of his team's pursuit of 4 to 5 and Kim Do-young's homerun again in two games.

Kim hit his 30th homer of this season in the game against the Gocheok Kiwoom Heroes on June 15, becoming the youngest player to hit 30 homers and 30 steals in a game. It was the ninth time in the KBO League and the first time in 14 years as a Korean batter. While Kim was happy to join the 30-30 club, he said, "I don't have the record of 40 homers and 40 steals in mind. Apart from homers, I don't know if I can achieve a steal. The first thing to do is to recover the sense of hitting that I have lost recently."

Kim did not stop. Two days after setting the record, he hit a 135-meter-long grand slam at the match against the LG Twins in Jamsil on April 17, and added his 32nd solo shot of the season against the Lotte Giants in Gwangju on April 22. He has accelerated the production of home runs since late last month. He hit home runs for two consecutive days at the match against SSG Landers on April 28 and 29. He took a breather at the match against Samsung on April 31, but drew his 35th arch again on the day to display the momentum of hitting three home runs in recent four games.

It is difficult to achieve only one homerun and 40 steals in a single season. In the KBO league, which is in its 43rd season, Eric Thames (47 homers - 40 steals, then NC Dinos) was the only batter who recorded both at the same time. If Kim wins the title this year, he will become the second player in KBO league history and the first Korean player to do so. Kim has 36 stolen bases this season. He has five homers and four steals left until his new history.

Leading Kia has also taken a step closer to winning the regular season title by leading its two consecutive weekend "Big Bang" against second-ranked Samsung. Kia, which beat Samsung 15-13 in the first game after tossing and turning the tables, was dragged 0-5 until the third inning on the day.

After Kim Do-young's 35th homer in the seventh inning, Na Sung-bum's tying solo shot (season 18) immediately followed, balancing the game 5-5. In the ninth inning, with two outs and a runner on the first base, Lee Woo-sung hit a timely two-base hit that directly hit the left-center fence to determine the outcome. KIA's pinch runner Hong Jong-pyo raced home to score a valuable finishing goal.

The gap between No. 1 Kia and No. 2 Samsung has widened to 6.5 games now. Considering the number of games remaining between the two teams (18 KIA games and 17 Samsung games), the gap is not easy to catch up with. Samsung's Park Byung-ho struggled with four RBIs in the second and third innings by hitting two-run homeruns in consecutive at-bats, but failed to prevent his team from losing. 메이저놀이터

Meanwhile, the NC Dinos came from behind to win the away game against SSG 8-2 thanks to consecutive homeruns by Matt Davidson and Kwon Hee-dong. It has achieved three consecutive wins in recent months. SSG is three games away from fifth-ranked KT, sending a red light to its postseason challenge.

Davidson, who is leading in homers, drew his 39th arch of this season in the sixth inning to maintain a gap with Kim Do-young, who is ranking second in this category, at four. In addition, he achieved his second 30 home runs-100 RBIs this season after Austin Dean, a foreign hitter of the LG Twins. If Davidson adds another homer, he will have his first batter with 40 home runs in four years, following Mel Rojas Jr. (47 from KT Wiz) in 2020.