(LEAD) Veteran shortstop does damage with bat, glove in Korean Series win

▲ Kim Jae-ho of the Doosan Bears celebrates his solo home run against the NC Dinos in the top of the fourth inning of Game 2 of the Korean Series at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on Nov. 18, 2020. (Yonhap)

▲ Doosan Bears' shortstop Kim Jae-ho (L) completes a double play at second base against the NC Dinos in the bottom of the sixth inning of Game 2 of the Korean Series at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on Nov. 18, 2020. (Yonhap)

▲ Kim Jae-ho of the Doosan Bears hits an RBI single against the NC Dinos in the top of the eighth inning of Game 2 of the Korean Series at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on Nov. 18, 2020. (Yonhap)

(LEAD) Korean Series-player

(LEAD) Veteran shortstop does damage with bat, glove in Korean Series win

(ATTN: ADDS comments throughout)

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Nov. 18 (Yonhap) -- Doosan Bears' shortstop Kim Jae-ho did everything in his power to help his club even the Korean Series against the NC Dinos on Wednesday.

At the plate, Kim launched his first career postseason home run and hit an RBI single. On the field, he was part of two of five double plays that the Bears turned to snuff out one Dinos rally after another.

Kim opened the fourth inning with a solo home run off starter Koo Chang-mo. He turned on a first-pitch fastball that caught the outer part of the plate and sent it over the left-field wall.

It came in Kim's 79th career postseason game and 207th at-bat. He also set a Korean Series record for most games played before hitting the first career homer: The shot came in his 37th game in the championship round.

And with the Bears nursing a 3-1 lead, Kim provided some breathing room with an RBI single in the top eighth. As pinch runner Lee Yu-chan scored, Kim tried to take second base but got thrown out.

The 35-year-old veteran, as he often does after many different types of plays, could only smile.

And Kim had much to smile about on defense, too.

In the bottom fifth inning, with Park Min-woo at first, Kim Jae-ho snared a line drive off the bat of Lee Myung-ki. Park took off before Lee made contact, and by the time Kim caught the liner, Park was already past the second base bag. It was one of the easiest double plays Kim turned in his career.

The double play to end all double plays came in the sixth inning, with Flexen taking one for the team.

With Yang at second, Park Sok-min smacked one off Flexen's leg. The ball never hit the ground and instead floated in the air. First baseman Oh Jae-il settled under it and made the catch for the first out, and threw to Kim covering second base to double up Yang.

After being named the Player of the Game, Kim, a three-time Korean Series champion, sounded as giddy as a rookie playing in his first postseason.

"This feels great. There are a lot of things I did for the first time tonight," Kim said. "Other guys have been doing their part with the bats. I wanted to try to hit a home run for a change, and luckily, I got a good pitch to hit."

Kim said he has never once thought he wanted to take center stage in postseason games, because he is always perfectly happy to play a supporting role.

Now playing in his sixth straight Korean Series, Kim said his perspective on the game has changed over the years.

"Back in the days, I used to think that I didn't want to be the one making outs and get all the blame," Kim said. "Now, my mindset is I don't care if I hit or not, as long as the team wins. So we don't have guys beating themselves up after a bad game."

Kim batted sixth in this game, and the bottom four hitters went 7-for-14 with two home runs, three RBIs and four runs scored.

The most encouraging performance for the Bears was a two-hit night by Oh Jae-il, who was moved down from sixth to eighth in the lineup for Game 2.

Oh had gone 0-for-14 with nine strikeouts over his past four playoff games before Wednesday. After striking out in the second inning, Oh singled in each of his next two trips to the plate.

Jose Miguel Fernandez, the regular season hits king who had been 3-for-20 in his past five games, left his usual No. 2 spot to bat seventh. He hammered a solo shot in the top of the ninth as part of his two-hit night.

Doosan manager Kim Tae-hyoung said he was heartened to see Oh swing the bat with more conviction.

"He looked really confident at the plate today," Kim said. "I don't know if he'll be able to keep it up in Game 3 (on Friday) but it was great to see him get a couple of hits."


(END)

(C) Yonhap News Agency. All Rights Reserved