SEOUL– The Kiwoom Heroes defeated the Doosan Bears 7-4 in a South Korean baseball wild card thriller on Monday, scoring three runs in the top of the ninth inning to stay alive for another day.
Batting champion Lee Jung-hoo broke a 4-4 tie with a two-out, two-run double in the ninth at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, and cleanup Park Byung-ho drove in an insurance run with a follow-up single.
As the lower seed after finishing the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) regular season in fifth, the Heroes must win two straight games to advance to the next round. They took care of the first win Monday night and will go at it again Tuesday, back at Jamsil.
The Bears, the fourth seed, can still advance with a tie or a win Tuesday.
The wild card system made its debut in 2015, and this is only the second time that the lower seed even forced the second game. And the higher-seeded teams have advanced to the next stage every year, and now the Heroes have a chance to end that streak.
This was also the first KBO game under the eased COVID-19 restrictions. The league decided to fully reopen stadiums for vaccinated fans or those who’ve tested negative within 48 hours. Although the crowd of 12,422 was well short of the 23,800 capacity at Jamsil, it was still the largest gathering of fans in the KBO during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Heroes were held without a hit through four innings, but broke through with the game’s first run in the fifth.
Song Sung-mun opened the inning with a double to right, and three batters later, No. 8 hitter Lee Ji-young cashed him in with a single up the middle.
Lee picked up his second RBI of the night in the top seventh with a groundout.
With a speedy pinch runner Park Jeong-eum at third base, Lee chopped the ball down the third base line. Third baseman Heo Kyoung-min failed to field the ball cleanly, or he might have had a play at the plate. Instead, Heo threw to first to retire the batter, allowing Park to score for a 2-0 Heroes lead.
Kiwoom starter An Woo-jin was downright dominant. He retired the first 14 batters he faced, seven of them via strikeout, and kept the Bears off the board through six innings.
But the tide changed quickly in the bottom seventh. A walk and a single put runners at the corners for the Bears. Pinch runner Jo Soo-haeng stole second, and pinch hitter Kim In-tae dumped a single to left field to bring both runners home for a 2-2 tie.
The Heroes reclaimed their two-run lead in the top eighth, thanks to a couple of sacrifice flies and shaky Doosan defense.
Two straight singles followed by a walk loaded the bases with nobody out. Park Byung-ho’s fly ball to deep left put the Heroes up 3-2. Every runner moved up as shortstop Kim Jae-ho, covering third base, dropped a throw from third baseman Park Gye-beom, who was trying to nab Kim Hye-seong moving from second to third.
Lee Jung-hoo advanced from first to second as Kim Jae-ho didn’t hurry back to pick up the ball.
A hit-by-pitch loaded the bases again for the Heroes. Pinch hitter Kim Woong-bin then hit the Heroes’ second sacrifice fly of the inning, though it almost never came to be.
The fly wasn’t hit that deep, and Kim Jae-hwan charged in to make a running grab in shallow left. Kim Hye-seong boldly tagged up, and catcher Jang Seung-hyun dropped the low throw that rolled down the third base line as the speedy runner stepped on the plate for a 4-2 lead.
But the Bears refused to go away. With one out and a runner at second in the bottom eighth, Kim Jae-hwan knotted the score at 4-4 with one swing of the bat.
Facing closer Cho Sang-woo, Kim destroyed a 3-1 fastball, sending it soaring into the left-field seats.
The Heroes, though, had an answer once again.
After retiring the first two batters in the top ninth, Doosan reliever Kim Kang-ryul issued two straight walks.
Lee Jung-hoo made Kim pay with a double to center field to drive in both runners, giving the Heroes a 6-4 lead. Park Byung-ho followed up with a single that scored Lee, giving Cho some breathing room in the bottom ninth.
But Cho walked a tightrope in the bottom ninth, loading the bases with two walks and a single.
Running on fumes by that point, the right-hander got Jung Soo-bin to pop out to second, and then recorded the final out on a fielder’s choice grounder by Jose Miguel Fernandez.
Kiwoom manager Hong Won-ki said he didn’t want anyone but Cho on the hill in those anxious moments.
“Trust was the biggest factor,” Hong said, explaining his decision to keep Cho while not having anyone warming up in the ninth. “He’s our best reliever and I wanted him to finish off the game.”
Cho may not be available Tuesday, but Hong wasn’t yet ready to rule that out.
“We still have our back against the wall,” he said. “We have to see how he feels tomorrow. If he can’t go, then we’ll think of other options.”
For Tuesday’s game, the Heroes will start right-hander Jeong Chan-heon.
He was 9-5 with a 4.01 ERA in the regular season, and won both of his starts against the Bears while giving up just one earned run in 11 innings. This will be his first career postseason start, following 13 relief apeparances.
The Bears will counter with right-hander Kim Min-gyu. After a Cinderella run during last year’s postseason, Kim struggled to a 2-3 record and a 6.07 ERA this year, while also spending time in the minors.
He made two regular season starts against the Heroes and had a 1-1 record with a 2.45 ERA.
The Bears are trying to reach a record seventh consecutive Korean Series. This run began in 2015, and they won the title in 2015, 2016 and 2019.
The Heroes, which joined the KBO in 2008, are chasing their first Korean Series title.
Source: Yonhap News Agency