The Kia Tigers and Doosan Bears were unable to settle the score in the end. Kia was happy to deny Doosan manager Lee Seung-yeop his 100th win. Lee was one win away from 100 career wins when he took over as Doosan manager last year.
Doosan and KIA tied 7-7 in the final game of the three-game midweek series of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League on Saturday at Gwangju Kia Champions Field in Gwangju after a tightly contested game that went into the 12th inning. Kia remained atop the standings with a 26-16-1 record, while fourth-place Doosan improved to 25-20-1.
Kia’s lineup consisted of Park Chan-ho (shortstop), Choi Won-joon (right fielder), Na Sung-beom (designated hitter), Choi Hyung-woo (left fielder), Socrates Brito (center fielder), Lee Woo-sung (first baseman), Kim Sun-bin (second baseman), Kim Tae-gun (catcher), and Hong Jong-pyo (third baseman). Hong Jong-pyo took over as the starting third baseman, Kim Do-young, was rested for another day with a wrist bruise and intestinal infection. Yoon Young-cheol was the starting pitcher.
Doosan started Jung Soo-bin (center field), Heo Kyung-min (third base), Kang Seung-ho (second base), Kim Jae-hwan (designated hitter), Yang Seok-hwan (first base), Henry Ramos (right field), Kim Ki-yeon (catcher), Lee Yoo-chan (shortstop), and Cho Su-sung (left field). An Bang-manim Yang-ji started the game on the bench with a left knee contusion. Kim Dong-ju was the starting pitcher.
KIA starter Yoon Young-cheol earned the win with five innings, 74 pitches, six hits (one home run), two walks, three strikeouts, and two runs, but a bullpen fire prevented him from picking up the win. Kim Do-hyun (1 inning), Kyu Do-gyu (0 innings, 2 runs), Jeon Sang-hyun (⅓ inning, 2 runs), Choi Ji-min (⅔ innings), Jang Hyun-sik (1⅔ innings, 1 run, no earned run), Jeong Hae-young (1⅓ innings), Lee Jun-young (1 inning), and Yoon Joong-hyun (1 inning) followed.
Doosan starter Kim Dong-joo left the game after allowing five runs on five hits (one home run) on 52 pitches in 2⅓ innings with two walks and two strikeouts. The bullpen was needed, and Park Chi-guk, the second pitcher, was able to keep the game scoreless with 29 pitches in 2⅓ innings. He was followed by Kim Kang-ryul (1 inning), Kim Taek-yeon (1⅓ innings, 1 run), Choi Ji-gang (⅔ innings), Hong Gun-hee (2 innings, 1 run), and Lee Byung-heon (2 innings).
Yoon Young-cheol opened the scoring. With one out in the top of the second, he hit a home run to left off Yang Seok-hwan. With the count 1-0, he threw a 140-kilometer per hour fastball low and away, but it was caught by Yang’s bat.
In the bottom of the second, Lee Woo-sang tied the game. One out later, he saw a slider from Kim Dong-joo that was a little high and took it over the left field wall.
Doosan added another run in the top of the third. Leadoff hitter Lee Yoo-chan led off with a single up the middle. Cho Sung-soo hit a grounder to the second baseman to load the bases with only Lee out, and when Jung Soo-bin grounded out to the first baseman, Cho stole second. Heo Kyung-min followed with a double to center field to make it 1-2.
Kia scored four runs in the bottom of the third inning to set the stage for its second straight win. After a leadoff double by Park Chan-ho, the next batter, Choi Won-joon, singled to right to make it 2-2. In the next at-bat, Na Sung-beom singled to left-center to put runners on first and third, and Choi Hyung-woo hit a two-run double to right-center 안전놀이터 field to make it 3-2. With runners on second and third and the Doosan mound switching from Kim Dong-joo to Park Chi-guk, Lee Woo-sung hit a two-run double to right field to make it 5-2. Lee was thrown out at second base to end the threat.
In the top of the seventh, the bullpen suddenly collapsed, as reliever Kwak Do-gyu walked Lee Yoo-chan and Cho Su-haeng to start the inning. Jeon Sang-hyun quickly took over and gave up a single to left-center to Yang Yang-ji, who pinch-hit for Jung Soo-bin, to make it 5-3. He then gave up an RBI single to left to Kyung-min Heo to cut the deficit to 5-4.
Doosan then put runners on first and second with no outs when Kang Seung-ho laid down a sacrifice bunt. Kia switched back to left-hander Choi Ji-min, who gave up a sacrifice fly to center field to Kim Jae-hwan to make it 5-5. Yang Seok-hwan drew a walk to put runners on second and third, and Ramos followed with a single to left to make it 5-6.
Kia came back in the bottom of the eighth. Park Chan-ho led off with a single to left and moved to third when Choi Won-joon and Na Sung-beom reached on infield grounders. A wild pitch by Doosan pitcher Choi Ji-kang then scored Park Chan-ho to tie the game at 6-6.
The Sox couldn’t get over the hump in the top of the ninth. Third baseman Hong Jong-pyo made a throwing error on a grounder to third base, sending leadoff hitter Heo Kyung-min to second base. He then got Kim Jae-hwan to ground into an automatic double play and Yang Seok-hwan to foul out to the first baseman to put runners on first and second, but the next batter, Ramos, singled to left to make it 6-7.
In the bottom of the ninth, Doosan brought in closer Hong Gun-hee to try to save the game. Lee Woo-sung struck out swinging, but the next batter, Kim Sun-bin, singled to left to load the bases. A wild pitch by Hong Gun-hee advanced Kim to second, and Han Jun-soo followed with a single to left to tie the game at 7-7.
Kia tried to end the game in the bottom of the 12th inning of extra innings. Doosan sent left-hander Lee Byung-heon to the mound from the 11th inning, and after a scoreless top of the 12th inning, they tried to get at least a draw. Leadoff hitter Lee Chang-jin drew a walk to set the stage for the game-winning run. Park Chan-ho tried to lay down a sacrifice bunt, but it was a foul fly to the third baseman, but Choi Won-joon singled to right to put runners on first and third. He then walked Na Sung-beom to load the bases with one out before turning to Park. Park flied out to center field, and the next batter, Socrates, flied out to first base to end the game in a tie.