SEOUL– The KT Wiz are now a win away from winning their first Korean Series title.
The Wiz defeated the Bears 3-1 in Game 3 of the best-of-seven South Korean baseball championship series on Wednesday, taking a commanding 3-0 series lead behind 5 2/3 shutout innings by starter Odrisamer Despaigne.
Veteran second baseman Park Kyung-su homered and made some outstanding plays at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul before leaving the game with a leg injury.
Game 4 is back at the dome at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) is holding the entire series at the dome to protect teams and fans from cold November conditions.
No team has ever rallied from a 3-0 Korean Series deficit on 11 previous occasions.
The Wiz, who joined the KBO in 2015, are competing in their first Korean Series. The Bears are playing in a record seventh consecutive Korean Series, and won it all in 2015, 2016 and 2019 during this current run.
The Wiz scored first in each of their first two victories of the series, and nearly opened the scoring in this game in the second inning.
With Yoo Han-joon standing at second base with two outs, Bae Jung-dae poked a single up the middle against starter Ariel Miranda.
Center fielder Jung Soo-bin, who missed Monday’s Game 2 with pains in his throwing hand, charged in and threw a one-hopper to the plate to nab Yoo at the plate.
The throw was slightly off line and went toward the third base side, but Yoo, never known for speed, was nearing the plate exactly at the moment catcher Park Sei-hyok fielded the ball, setting up an easy tag.
The Bears themselves wasted a chance against starter Odrisamer Despaigne in the bottom second, when Park Sei-hyok lined out to first after a two-out single and a walk.
Despaigne settled into a groove afterward, retiring the next 10 straight batters on just 30 pitches.
The Wiz didn’t get much going against Miranda for a couple of innings, either, until Park Kyung-su put a charge into a middle-middle fastball for a solo shot that broke the scoreless deadlock in the top fifth.
The Wiz could have blown the game open in the sixth, when they loaded the bases with nobody out against reliever Lee Young-ha on a single and two walks.
But the Wiz let Lee off the hook, with Jared Hoying striking out and Bae Jung-dae hitting into a 4-6-3 double play. It was the Wiz’s third twin killing of the game.
The Bears immediately had something cooking in the bottom sixth. A walk and a single put two runners on with two outs, and Despaigne was pulled with the left-handed slugger Kim Jae-hwan due up.
The lefty specialist Jo Hyun-woo took over, and got Kim to whiff on a 0-2 slider to end that Doosan threat.
The Wiz kept pushing for insurance runs, and finally scored two against the tired Bears’ bullpen in the top seventh.
Lee Young-ha walked the first two batters of the inning before giving way to Hong Geon-hui. Hong got the first out, but then Cho Yong-ho slapped a single to left to put the Wiz ahead 2-0.
The next batter, Hwang Jae-gyun, drove in the team’s third run with a sacrifice fly to center.
The Bears got a run back in the bottom eighth on a two-out RBI single by Park Kun-woo, who had been 0-for-10 in the series to that point.
They had a tying run at the plate with two outs in the ninth but closer Kim Jae-yoon slammed the door shut for his second save of the series.
The Wiz have been outstanding with their gloves all series and manager Lee Kang-chul said his team’s defense has been the difference maker so far.
“Once again, our players had such a strong focus on the field and made all the key plays,” Lee said. “Then Park Kyung-su’s home run swung the momentum in our favor. After we couldn’t score with the bases loaded in the sixth, we managed to keep (the Bears) off the board the next inning. That was key to our victory.”
Casting a cloud over the Wiz victory was the right calf injury for Park Kyung-su, who has been one of their most valuable players so far in the series.
He appeared to twist his right leg after back pedaling on a soft fly by An Jae-seok in the bottom eighth. Park had the ball go off his glove and fell awkwardly. He left the stadium in an ambulance and was taken to a nearby hospital for further tests.
Lee said Park won’t be able to get tested until Thursday morning and he will likely miss the potential title clinching game.
Source: Yonhap News Agency