baseball-postseason
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| ▲ Lee Jung-hoo of the Kiwoom Heroes celebrates his two-run double against the Doosan Bears in the top of the ninth inning of the Korea Baseball Organization wild card game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Nov. 1, 2021. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ Lee Yong-kyu of the Kiwoom Heroes (R) slides home safely on a sacrifice fly by Park Byung-ho against the Doosan Bears in the top of the eighth inning of the Korea Baseball Organization wild card game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Nov. 1, 2021. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ Kim Hye-seong of the Kiwoom Heroes (R) scores on a sacrifice fly by Kim Woong-bin against the Doosan Bears in the top of the eighth inning of the Korea Baseball Organization wild card game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Nov. 1, 2021. (Yonhap) |
baseball-postseason
Heroes beat Bears in KBO wild card thriller, force 2nd game
By Yoo Jee-ho
SEOUL, Nov. 1 (Yonhap) -- 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 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.
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.
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