The Kia Tigers beat the Samsung Lions 8-3 to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the Korean Series on Wednesday, moving a step closer to their first South Korean baseball title in seven years.
The Tigers ambushed Lions starter Hwang Dong-jae for five runs on five hits in the bottom of the first inning at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in Gwangju, 270 kilometers south of Seoul, while Kim Do-yeong, coming off an MVP-worthy regular season, slugged a solo home run in the bottom second.
Yang Hyeon-jong, the 2017 Korean Series MVP for the Tigers, scattered eight hits across 5 2/3 innings and gave up two runs for his second career postseason victory in front of a sellout crowd of 19,300.
Game 2 began about an hour after the completion of the suspended Game 1, which the Tigers won 5-1. That game started Monday but was put on hold due to rain with the Lions leading 1-0 in the top of the sixth. The Tigers scored four times in the seventh and once more in the eighth to take the opener, and rode that wave to claim the second g
ame, too.
The best-of-seven series will now move to the Lions’ home, Daegu Samsung Lions Park in the southeastern city of Daegu, for Games 3 and 4 on Friday and Saturday.
The Tigers will host Games 5, 6 and 7 from next Monday to Wednesday, if the series goes that far.
This is the 42nd edition of the Korean Series, and a team won the first two games on 20 previous occasions. Only the 2007 SK Wyverns and 2013 Lions have overcome a 2-0 deficit to capture the Korean Series title.
Fresh off their win in the opener, the Tigers jumped on Hwang in the bottom of the first before many fans had even taken their seats.
Park Chan-ho drew a leadoff walk, and Socrates Brito followed with a single. Both runners moved up a base when catcher Kang Min-ho’s pickoff throw to second bounced past shortstop Lee Jae-hyeon and ended up in shallow center.
Kim Do-yeong’s groundout brought in Park for the game’s first run, and the Tigers were just getting started.
Four consecutive hits followed, with Choi Hyoung-woo opening fire w
ith an RBI single. After Na Sung-bum’s single, Kim Sun-bin delivered a run-scoring double and Lee Woo-sung added a two-run single.
Hwang, making his Korean Series debut, got the hook after Kim Tae-gun’s fielder’s choice groundout. He only faced eight batters, and gave up five hits and a walk before Lee Seung-min took over.
Lee couldn’t cool off the Tigers’ bats, either. In the bottom second, Kim Do-yeong took him deep to right field for the solo homer that put the Tigers up 6-0. It was Kim’s first career postseason home run.
The Lions, who couldn’t score after loading the bases in the top third, got a run back in the fourth, thanks to a Tigers error and some heads-up baserunning.
With Ryu Ji-hyuk on first after a single, Kim Hyeon-joon hit a hard grounder at first baseman Lee Woo-sung. Lee bobbled the ball, and Yang Hyeon-jong, covering the first base bag, failed to catch Lee’s high toss.
As the ball trickled into foul territory, Ryu alertly dashed home for the Lions’ first run.
Kim Ji-chan kept the inn
ing going with a single, but Yang limited further damage as Kim Hun-gon bounced into a fielder’s choice groundout.
The Tigers regained their six-run advantage thanks to Kim Sun-bin’s sacrifice fly in the bottom fifth.
That was more than enough run support for Yang, who gave up another run with one out in the sixth before getting the hook for Lee Jun-young.
Lee and another reliever, Jang Hyun-sik, slammed the door shut in the sixth inning after Kim Hyeon-joon hit an RBI single off Yang.
Though they didn’t need it, the Tigers tacked on another run anyway in the bottom eighth with Kim Tae-gon’s sacrifice fly.
Closer Jung Hai-young, who had finished the first game, also pitched the ninth inning of the second game and gave up an inconsequential run on three straight two-out singles.
Source: Yonhap News Agency
