(LEAD) KBO batting champ delivers clutch hit in memorable postseason game

유지호 / 2021-11-01 23:34:37

(LEAD) baseball-player

▲ Lee Jung-hoo of the Kiwoom Heroes hits a 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)

▲ 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)

(LEAD) baseball-player

(LEAD) KBO batting champ delivers clutch hit in memorable postseason game

(ATTN: ADDS comments in paras 13-16)

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Nov. 1 (Yonhap) -- Lee Jung-hoo, the 2021 regular season batting champion in South Korean baseball, picked up right where he left off as the postseason began on Monday.

The hitting machine for the Kiwoom Heroes delivered a two-out double against the Doosan Bears in the top of the ninth inning of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) wild card game. The hit broke a 4-4 tie at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, and lifted the Heroes to a 7-4 win in a game that featured everything from dominant starting pitching, multiple lead changes and questionable defense.

The Heroes, as the fifth seed in the postseason, still have to win another game Tuesday to advance to the next round. The fourth-seeded Bears only needed a tie or a win Monday, and they'll take another crack at it Tuesday, back at Jamsil.

The wild card game was introduced in 2015 and No. 4 seed has never been eliminated in this stage.

Lee was instrumental in helping the Heroes get to the playoffs. Over the team's final seven games, Lee batted .552 with 12 RBIs.

That hot streak also netted Lee his first career batting title at .360, 27 years after his legendary father, Lee Jong-beom, became the batting champion for the first time.

The junior Lee had also been the Heroes' best hitter against Doosan pitching, with a .400 average across 14 games.

He'd been kept mostly in check in Monday's game, but came through when his club needed him the most.

The Heroes had lost a 2-0 lead in the bottom seventh. They went back up by 4-2 in the top eighth, but then the Bears' cleanup Kim Jae-hwan smacked a two-run homer in the bottom half of that inning to knot the score at 4-4.

Doosan reliever Kim Kang-ryul got the first two outs of the top ninth on six pitches, and the Bears were licking their chops for a chance to walk it off in the bottom ninth.

But then Kim walked the next two batters. Lee stepped in and watched the first-pitch slider for a strike. He then turned on a fastball and drove it over the head of center fielder Jung Soo-bin, as both runners came home for a 6-4 Kiwoom lead.

Park Byung-ho brought Lee home with a single, and the Heroes hung on to win 7-4.

On his clutch hit, Lee said he'd guessed correctly on a fastball from Kim.

"After seeing the slider for a strike on the first pitch, I figured it was going to be a tough at-bat," Lee said. "I was sitting on a high fastball, and was able to pounce on a mistake pitch."

Lee said finishing the regular season on a strong note helped him in Monday's game.

"Earlier in the game, I fouled off some pitches on the inside, and I felt I was swinging the bat really well," he said. "I wanted to keep up the momentum from the regular season and I feel confident about turning on inside pitches."

Before bats woke up late for both clubs, Kiwoom starter An Woo-jin shone brightly early on. He was perfect through 4 2/3 innings and finished the game with nine strikeouts.

He touched 154 kilometers per hour on his 100th pitch in the seventh but the next pitch went for a game-tying, two-run single by pinch hitter Kim In-tae.

Kiwoom closer Cho Sang-woo tossed his season-high 43 pitches to lock down the win. He served up that huge two-run blast in the bottom eighth and loaded the bases in the bottom ninth, before cleaning up his own mess.

(END)