The Doosan Bears of the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) enjoyed a thrilling come-from-behind victory in front of a sold-out crowd.
The Doosan Bears won the 10th game of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League against the Kia Tigers on Sunday at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul, South Korea, with a 6-5 walk-off win in 11 innings.
Doosan swept the three-game series and improved to 36-2-27 on the season with a four-game winning streak. They also snapped a three-game losing streak at home.
Kia, on the other hand, lost the top spot to LG Twins, who beat KT Wiz in Suwon in the same time frame. 36 wins, 1 draw and 25 losses on the season. It’s been 59 days since April 9 since KIA dropped to second place.
For the road trip, Kia fielded the following starting lineup: Park Chan-ho (shortstop), Kim Do-young (third base), Na Sung-beom (right field), Choi Hyung-woo (designated hitter), Socrates Brito (left field), Kim Sun-bin (second base), Seo Gun-chang (first base), Kim Tae-gun (catcher), and Choi Won-joon (center field).
The lineup changed drastically when Lee Woo-sung, who was born on July 7, took a one-day maternity leave. Lee Bum-ho said, “(Lee) Woo-sung could have taken two days off, but he only took one. It’s something to celebrate, and I hope he can relax and take a day off while watching his baby,” Lee said, adding, ”I inserted Seo Gun-chang when Woo Sung-ki was out. It was a matchup of aces, so we expected a low-scoring game, but we tried to put together a lineup that would dig into the gaps.”
The home team, Doosan, responded with Jung Soo-bin (center fielder), Heo Kyung-min (third baseman), Henry Ramos (right fielder), Yang Ji (catcher), Kim Jae-hwan (designated hitter), Yang Seok-hwan (first baseman), Kim Jae-ho (shortstop), Cho Su-hyung (left fielder), and Lee Yoo-chan (second baseman).
Regarding the exclusion of starting second baseman Kang Seung-ho, Lee said, “He’s not as explosive as he was at the beginning of the season. I’ve been thinking about different ways to save him, but for now, I’m going to give him time to replenish his physical strength.”
It was all Doosan from the start. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the second inning, captain Yang Seok-hwan led off the inning with a solo home run. He took a high sinker (149 kilometers) outside the first pitch from Kia starter James Nail, who leads the 바카라사이트 league in ERA, for a three-run home run to left field (125 meters). It was his 14th home run of the season, his first in five games since hitting one against the LG Twins in Jamsil on April 1.
Kia countered in the top of the third inning. Two batters later, Kim Do-young and Na Sung-beom singled to put runners on first and third, and Choi Hyung-woo hit a tying RBI single to center field. Socrates followed with a straight ball to load the bases, and Kim Sun-bin followed with an infield single. Kim took advantage of shortstop Kim Jae-ho’s slow throw to first base.
Doosan regained the lead in the bottom of the third inning when leadoff hitter Jung Soo-bin singled to center field. Ramos then reached on a throwing error by first baseman Seo Gun-chang to put runners on first and second, and Yang tied the game at 2-2 with an RBI single to left.
Doosan responded in the bottom of the fourth inning. The leadoff hitter faced a 0B-2S unfavorable count against Nail, but took a five-pitch slider (131 mph) to center field for a solo home run (130 mph). It was Yang’s 17th home run of the season, 1187th of his career, and the fifth in a row in the KBO.
Kia responded to the home run with a home run of their own. In the top of the fifth inning, Kim Do-young led off with a home run to tie the game again. After watching Doosan starter Raul Alcantara’s first pitch, Kim took the second pitch, a high fastball (150 kilometers), for a 125-meter home run to left-center field. It was the second straight day he hit a home run, after hitting one against the Gwangju Lotte Giants the day before, and his 16th home run of the season.
The home run was the first of his career and second of the KBO season against his former club. KT Wiz foreign-born hitter Mel Rojas Jr. hit his first home run of the season against a former team on March 31 against KIA in Gwangju.
Kia didn’t stop there. Choi Hyung-woo calmly 바카라사이트 추천 drew a walk after an eight-pitch at-bat, and Socrates followed with an exquisite RBI triple that just cleared the first baseman’s height.
In the top of the seventh, leadoff hitters Kim Do-young and Na Sung-beom singled to put runners on first and third with no outs. Choi Hyung-woo struck out swinging after a nine-pitch at-bat against Choi Ji-kang, but Socrates extended the lead with an infield single. However, an error by shortstop Kim Jae-ho and a wild pitch put runners on second and third, but Seo struck out swinging.
Doosan didn’t go away. In the bottom of the seventh, Jeong Soo-bin reached base on a fielder’s choice and advanced to third on a stolen base and a throwing error by the catcher. Heo Kyung-min followed with a single up the middle to cut the deficit to 4-5. Ramos followed with a single to right, and with runners on first and third, Yang Ji-hyun hit a short fly ball to center field, but Heo took advantage of the wild pitch to score the tying run.
In the bottom of the 10th inning, Yang Seok-hwan led off with a double to deep left field and Kim Jae-ho followed with a single to left. Cho then drew an automatic walk on a 3B-1S pitch to load the bases, but Lee Yoo-chan reached on a fielder’s choice and Jung Soo-bin fouled out to third.
Doosan had a chance to load the bases in the bottom of the 11th inning when Jeon Min-jae led off with a single and Ramos and Yang Yang-ji followed with consecutive singles. Kim Jae-hwan then hit an end-run single off reliever Lee Jun-young to end the long game.
Doosan starter Alcantara allowed four runs on eight hits (one homer) with three walks and one strikeout in 6 1/3 innings, while KIA starter Nail allowed five runs (four earned) on eight hits (two homers) with two walks and two strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings. Jeong Chul-won was the winning pitcher and Kim Do-hyun was the losing pitcher.