[Anchor]
KIA Tigers baseball superstar Kim Doyoung made his final attempt today (September 6) at setting the record for the youngest player to hit 40 home runs in a season. Shaking off his recent slump, he put on a stellar performance, but unfortunately, the home run did not come.
Reporter Bae Jeonghun has the details.
[Reporter]
After hitting his 39th home run early on August 26, Kim Doyoung faced setbacks with four consecutive games canceled due to rain. Even in the five games that proceeded normally, he fell into a batting slump, recording just 2 hits in 14 at-bats.
Today, the final day of his quest to become the youngest player ever to hit 40 home runs in a single season, he swung the bat fiercely as if shedding his burden.
In his first plate appearance in the first inning, Kim smacked a clean single to left field. Tied 1-1 in the third inning, he hit another single to left field, serving as a stepping stone to lead the team's comeback. He proved his batting rhythm had returned by adding another center-field single in the fourth.
In his fourth plate appearance in the sixth inning, he walked intentionally to first base and then sprinted all the way home taking advantage of Castro's double, pacing the team's offense.
In the eighth inning, Kim completed his second four-hit game of the season with a batted ball that struck the pitcher, though he first checked on the pitcher's safety.
As the game ended this way, his bid to become the youngest to hit 40 home runs in a season unfortunately fell short.
(Video Editing: Hwang Ji-young)
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