The Doosan Bears snapped a four-game winning streak with a dramatic finish to stay within striking distance of the fourth-place KIA Tigers and fifth-place SSG Landers.
Doosan scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to come back from a 0-2 deficit and win 3-2 in their 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League home game against SSG at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on Thursday.
Doosan moved to within one game of SSG, who dropped to fifth place, and fourth-place KIA. Doosan and KIA will play a three-game series in Gwangju starting on the 15th.
Doosan was held scoreless until the eighth inning by the dominant pitching of SSG left-hander Roenis Elias.
After scoring two runs on Choi Jeong’s RBI double to left-center in the first and pinch-hitter Choi Joo-hwan’s solo home run to right in the seventh, SSG called Elias to the dugout in the ninth and handed the game to closer Seo Jin-yong for one inning.
However, the mood changed when Yang Seok-hwan led off with a single up the middle.
Yang’s single and Seo’s wild pitch put runners on second and third, and Kang Seung-ho’s infield grounder brought in a run.
With the bases loaded, Doosan tied the game at 2-2 on Seo’s second wild pitch of the game, a single by Kim In-tae and an intentional walk by Park Kye-beom.
Pinch-hitter Heo Kyung-min completed the comeback with a goodbye hit just over the shortstop’s head.
In Daegu, the Samsung Lions defeated the second-place KT WIZ 10-4. KT trailed the third-place NC Dinos by one game.
KT scored the first run in the second inning on a throwing error by Samsung starter Won Tae-in that put runners on second and third with a double to left-center field and a single by Jang Jang-woo.
After catching Jang Jun-won’s bunt, Won Tae-in threw the ball to first base, but there was no one to receive it.
KT added another run on a slow grounder by Kim Sang-soo to take a 2-0 lead.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Samsung scored a run on a sacrifice fly by Lee Jae-hyun with one out after a bad throw by KT starter Choi Byeol-sung, and made it 3-2 on a double to left by pinch-hitter Ahn Ju-hyung with two outs after a walk by Kim Ji-chan.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Kang Min-ho hit a two-run double directly off the right field wall, Jose Pirela hit a two-run double over the left field wall and between the barbed wire and the fence, and Ryu Ji-hyuk hit an RBI single to right field to extend the lead to 6-2.
KT rallied in the top of the sixth with Jang Sung-woo’s 130-meter two-run arch over the second floor of the left-field stands, but trailing 6-4, they gave up four runs in the bottom of the inning, including back-to-back RBI singles to Kim Hyun-jun and Kim Sung-yoon.
The game was suspended due to rain before Samsung attacked in the bottom of the sixth inning and resumed after 71 minutes.
The Lotte Giants-KIA Tigers (Gwangju Kia Champions Field) and LG Twins-NC (Changwon NC Park) games were canceled due to fall rains and will be rescheduled later. 안전놀이터
