The Kia Tigers used a seventh-inning rally to defeat the Samsung Lions 5-1 in their suspended opening game of the South Korean baseball championship series Wednesday, some 48 hours after it began in the southern city of Gwangju.
The Tigers put up a four-spot in the bottom seventh to take Game 1 of the Korean Series at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in Gwangju, 270 kilometers south of Seoul.
The game had been suspended due to rain Monday night, with the Lions leading 1-0 in the top of the sixth inning. Kim Hun-gon had given the Lions the lead with a solo home run off Tigers starter James Naile minutes before the suspension, and the Lions had two runners aboard with nobody out and Kim Young-woong at the plate against reliever Jang Hyun-sik.
After Jeon Sang-hyun replaced Jang when play resumed, the Lions failed to score in the sixth, setting the stage for the Tigers’ comeback in the seventh.
It was the first postseason game to be suspended in Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) history.
The teams were originally
scheduled to resume the game and then play Game 2 on Tuesday, but unplayable field conditions and expected rain caused further postponement to Wednesday.
Game 2 is scheduled to begin later Wednesday at the same park.
In Korean Series history, Game 1 winners went on to win the title 29 out of 40 occasions, or 72.5 percent of the time. This excludes the 1982 Korean Series, when the first game ended in a tie.
While the odds are stacked against the Lions, the past two champions both lost the opening games before going on to win their titles.
As the Tigers’ third pitcher, Jeon successfully kept the Lions off the board in the top sixth.
Kim Young-woong put down the bunt, but the ball stopped right in front of the plate, giving catcher Kim Tae-gun plenty of time to pick it up and throw out the lead runner, Lewin Diaz, at third.
Jeon then struck out Park Byung-ho, before walking Yoon Jeong-bin to load the bases. Jeon got behind Lee Jae-hyeon 1-0 but retired him on a soft grounder back to the mound.
For the Lio
ns, starter Won Tae-in had thrown five shutout innings on just 66 pitches before the suspension, and left-handed swingman Lee Seung-hyun came on to begin the bottom sixth Wednesday. He promptly made his presence felt by striking out the side in the sixth.
The Lions frittered away another opportunity in the seventh, when Ryu Ji-hyuk reached on an error and was sacrificed over to second.
Jeon struck out Kim Hun-gon and then was replaced by Kwak Do-gyu, who struck out Diaz to end the inning.
The Tigers made the Lions pay dearly for those missed chances, as they put up a four-spot in the bottom seventh to jump out in front.
With runners at second and third, reliever Lim Chang-min threw a wild pitch with Park Chan-ho at the plate, as Kim Sun-bin scored the tying run.
With Socrates Brito batting, Lim threw another wild pitch, allowing Choi Won-jun to score the go-ahead run. Then on the very next pitch, Brito lined a single to right field to make it a 3-1 game.
Brito took second base on right fielder Yoon Jeon
g-bin’s throw home and came around to score on a follow-up single by Kim Do-yeong to put the Tigers up 4-1.
Kim Tae-gun’s RBI double rounded out the scoring for the Tigers.
The Tigers’ bullpen took care of the rest. After Jeon gave them 1 2/3 shutout innings, Kwak went 1 1/3 innings without giving up a hit.
Closer Jung Hai-young then finished business by retiring the side in order in the ninth.
Source: Yonhap News Agency
