SEOUL– The KT Wiz defeated the Doosan Beas 6-1 on Monday to take a 2-0 lead in the Korean Series, moving a step closer to their inaugural South Korean baseball championship.
Captain Hwang Jae-gyun homered and helped turn one of a record-tying four double plays on the field, while starter So Hyeong-jun tossed six scoreless innings despite issuing five walks at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul.
No. 3 hitter Kang Baek-ho went 2-for-2 with two walks, and has not been retired in the series yet. He has tied a Korean Series record by reaching base in eight consecutive plate appearances, with five hits and three walks.
Game 3 is 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, back at the dome. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) is staging the entire best-of-seven series at the dome to protect teams and fans against cold mid-November conditions.
The Wiz bat last in the first two games as the top seed. The fourth-seeded Bears will be the home team in Games 3 and 4.
If the series goes the distance, the Wiz will be the home team in the final three games, which will be played from Saturday to next Monday.
In 38 previous Korean Series, the team that built a 2-0 series lead went on to claim the championship 17 out of 19 times.
For the second straight game, the Wiz struck first, and did so right after the Bears wasted a golden opportunity to build momentum in the top of the first.
With one out in the bottom first, Hwang Jae-gyun launched a solo home run off starter Choi Won-joon, driving a slider over the left-field wall. It was Hwang’s first career postseason home run in his 24th game and 85th at-bat.
Wiz starter So Hyeong-jun averted a crisis in the top first. He walked the first two batters he faced and had trouble finding the zone.
Jose Miguel Fernandez, who had Doosan’s best numbers against So during the regular season, smoked one toward the hole on the right for what appeared to be a sure RBI single.
But second baseman Park Kyung-su dove to his left to snare the scorcher, and fired the ball to second from his knees for a 4-6-3 double play.
So issued another walk to put runners at the corners but got a groundout to escape the jam.
So allowed a one-out single in the second inning but induced another double play ball, covering first base himself to complete a 3-6-1 twin killing.
So gave up his fourth walk with one out in the third inning but the Bears bounced into their third double play. This time, it was third baseman Hwang Jae-gyun fielding a tricky grounder by Kang Seung-ho to start a 5-4-3 double play.
So continued to play with fire without getting burned. He gave up a leadoff double to Fernandez in the fourth inning, and issued a two-out walk to put the go-ahead run aboard for the Bears.
But Park Sei-hyok let So off the hook by hitting a comebacker to the pitcher.
Choi, meanwhile, settled down after the shaky first inning. He recorded two strikeouts in the second and then pitched around a two-out walk in third. He only threw six pitches to get three straight flyouts in the fourth.
But the Wiz got to Choi again in the fifth, and opened up a 6-0 lead when the dust settled.
They began the proceedings with three straight singles, with Cho Yong-ho’s RBI single being the capper. A sacrifice bunt moved runners to second and third, and Choi intentionally walked dangerous Kang Baek-ho to load the bases and set up a force play at every base.
But Choi hit Yoo Han-joon in the left elbow with his first pitch and let in a run for a 3-0 KT lead, and then walked Jared Hoying to force in another run before getting pulled.
Reliever Hong Geon-hui made things even worse, as Jang Sung-woo jumped on a 2-1 fastball for a two-run double off the right-center wall that put the Wiz ahead by six runs.
So survived another double by Fernandez in the sixth inning before handing the reins to the bullpen.
Fernandez drove in the Bears’ only run in the top eighth. He had three of the team’s six hits in the loss.
KT manager Lee Kang-chul said, for all the big hits from this game, it was the defense that carried the day for his club.
“We won this game with our fielding. We could have been trailing earlier in the game, and Park Kyung-su’s play (in the first) really sent a jolt of excitement through our dugout,” the manager said. “After that double play, Hwang Jae-gyun hit that home run in the first, and the momentum was on our side. Overall, our players are competing with such a strong focus.”
The Bears were missing their usual leadoff man and center fielder Jung Soo-bin, who’d suffered a wrist injury on a diving play in Sunday’s game. His replacement, Kim In-tae, went 0-for-3 with two double plays.
Doosan manager Kim Tae-hyoung said Jung remained questionable for Game 3.
Source: Yonhap News Agency