Bears rout Heroes to claim KBO wild card

유지호 / 2021-11-02 22:27:28

baseball-postseason game

▲ Yang Suk-hwan of the Doosan Bears celebrates his two-run single against the Kiwoom Heroes in the bottom of the fourth inning of the Korea Baseball Organization wild card game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Nov. 2, 2021. (Yonhap)

▲ Jose Miguel Fernandez of the Doosan Bears hits a two-run single against the Kiwoom Heroes in the bottom of the second inning of the Korea Baseball Organization wild card game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Nov. 2, 2021. (Yonhap)

▲ Doosan Bears starter Kim Min-gyu pitches against the Kiwoom Heroes in the top of the first inning of the Korea Baseball Organization wild card game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Nov. 2, 2021. (Yonhap)

▲ Kim Jae-hwan of the Doosan Bears (L) scores on a double steal against the Kiwoom Heroes in the bottom of the sixth inning of the Korea Baseball Organization wild card game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Nov. 2, 2021. (Yonhap)

▲ Fans take in the Korea Baseball Organization wild card game between the Kiwoom Heroes and the Doosan Bears at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Nov. 2, 2021. (Yonhap)

▲ Doosan Bears shortstop Kim Jae-ho (R) makes a throw to first to complete a double play against the Kiwoom Heroes in the top of the first inning of the Korea Baseball Organization wild card game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Nov. 2, 2021. (Yonhap)

baseball-postseason game

Bears rout Heroes to claim KBO wild card

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Nov. 2 (Yonhap) -- The Doosan Bears pounded the Kiwoom Heroes 16-8 to capture the South Korean baseball wild card on Tuesday, keeping their dynastic postseason run alive.

Jose Miguel Fernandez drove in five runs, and No. 5 hitter Yang Suk-hwan contributed four RBIs at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, as the Bears pounded out 20 hits. Five players picked up three hits apiece.

The Bears now move on to play the LG Twins in the first round of the postseason. The best-of-three series starts Thursday at Jamsil, which the Twins and the Bears share as home.

The Twins, after finishing third in the regular season, earned a bye to the first round. This will be the second straight meeting between the Twins and the Bears in the first round. The Bears prevailed last year in two straight games.

The Bears have played in a record-tying six consecutive Korean Series, and are now four wins away from making it seven in a row.f

As the No. 4 seed, the Bears took two cracks at winning or tying one game against the fifth-seed Heroes. The lower-seeded club won Monday's game 7-4 before running out of steam on Tuesday.

The wild card system was introduced in 2015, and the No. 4 seed has advanced every year.

The Bears scored twice off Kiwoom starter Jeong Chan-heon in the bottom first, courtesy of Yang Suk-hwan's two-run single after a walk and a double.

Jeong was pulled with one out in the second, after giving up a single and a walk. Facing the top of the Bears' lineup, new pitcher Han Hyun-hee promptly allowed a single that loaded the bases.

Jose Miguel Fernandez then plated two runs with a single, putting the Bears ahead 4-0.

The Heroes got a run back in the top fourth, thanks to a two-out double by Song Sung-mun.

But the Bears came out for the bottom fourth with vengeance against Han, as they put up a five-spot on six hits and a walk.

All five runs were scored with two outs. First, it was Fernandez and Park Kun-woo delivering consecutive RBI singles for a 6-1 lead. After a walk loaded the bases, Yang knocked in two more runs with a single to right-center field.

Heo Kyoung-min then made it 9-1 for the Bears with an infield single, when shortstop Kim Hye-seong failed to field a soft grouder.

The Heroes tried to go down fighting. Lee Jung-hoo, a hero for Kiwoom in Monday's game, lined a three-run double with the bases loaded in the top fifth, bringing the Heroes to within 9-4.

The Bears, though, killed any hopes of a comeback with a six-run sixth inning.

Kim Jae-hwan scored on a double steal and Kang Seung-ho then cashed in a run with a double. Park Sei-hyok followed with a two-run single, and Fernandez put the game further out of the Heroes' reach with a two-run single that opened up a 15-4 lead.

Kang's seventh-inning single made it 16-5 for the Bears.

The Heroes picked up three runs in the eighth and another in the ninth to make the final score a bit more respectable. They did get 13 hits themselves, four of them by Lee Jung-hoo.

(END)