Gwangju:Two years after playing a pivotal role in securing the Korean Series title for the Kia Tigers, pitcher James Naile returned to the South Korean baseball postseason with an impressive performance. On Saturday, Naile limited the LG Twins to one run on four hits over seven innings, propelling the Tigers to a 5-1 victory in the opening game of the best-of-five first round in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Naile struck out six batters in front of a sellout crowd of 18,900 at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field. His signature pitch, the sweeper, accounted for five of those strikeouts. The Tigers' offense supported Naile with home runs from Harold Castro and Kim Do-yeong, providing the necessary runs for the win.
Naile began the game with two strikeouts in the first inning. After allowing a solo home run to Song Chan-eui in the second inning, Naile settled in and navigated through a challenging third inning, aided by a defensive play that caught Park Dong-won in a rundown. In the sixth inning, Naile faced his toughest moment, giving up a leadoff double and a walk. However, he struck out Moon Jeong-bin and induced a double play to escape the jam.
Completing a clean seventh inning, Naile handed the game over to the bullpen, which successfully maintained the lead. Naile's previous postseason performance included two starts against the Samsung Lions in the 2024 Korean Series, where he recorded a 2.53 ERA. Following Saturday's game, his career postseason ERA now stands at 2.04.