The Mountain Bears defeated the Kiwoom Heroes in a back-and-forth 23-hit batting battle. Doosan defeated Kiwoom 11-4 on the second day of their midweek three-game series at Gocheok Sky Dome on Wednesday.
With the win, Doosan extended its winning streak to two games and clinched the best-of-three series. With 52 wins, one draw and 51 losses, Doosan remained in fifth place and closed the gap on fourth-place NC Dinos (52 wins, two draws and 48 losses) to one game.
Kiwoom, on the other hand, suffered their second straight defeat after three straight wins and fell to 46 points, 3 draws and 54 losses.
Doosan struck first in the top of the first inning. Jose Rojas hit a two-run double off Kiwoom starter Jang Jae-young for a 2-0 lead. Kiwoom got a run back in the bottom of the first when Kim Hwijip hit a sacrifice fly off Doosan starter Brandon Waddell.
Down 2-0, Kiwoom turned the game around in the bottom of the fifth. With runners on first and second, Song Sung-moon hit a grounder to second base, but Doosan second baseman Kang Seung-ho threw the ball behind the plate looking for a double play, allowing Kiwoom to score both runners and take a 3-2 lead.
However, Kiwoom also hit the ground on a fielding error. In the top of the sixth, Kang Seung-ho singled to right with one out against Kiwoom’s second pitcher, Park Seung-joo, but Kiwoom right fielder Lim Byung-wook threw the ball into the Doosan dugout, allowing Kim Jae-hwan to advance one base. Doosan tied the game at 3-3.
Kang Seung-ho stole third and the next batter, Heo Kyung-min, hit an RBI single to give Doosan a 4-3 lead. Doosan added an insurance run. In the top of the seventh, Rojas doubled again to make it 5-3.
Kiwoom chipped away. In the bottom of the seventh, Kim Hui-jip, who led off the inning, took a three-pitch at-bat from Doosan’s second pitcher, Hong Gun-hee, and launched a solo home run (his seventh of the season) over the left field fence to cut the deficit to 4-5.
However, Doosan’s focus late in the game proved to be the difference. Doosan added a run in the top of the eighth inning when Heo Kyung-min hit an RBI double. Kiwoom followed with an error. Two more fielding errors followed, and Doosan scored two more runs to make it 8-4.
Doosan added three more runs in the top of the ninth inning as Heo Kyung-min, Cho Su-hyun, and Kim In-tae hit RBI doubles. Heo Kyung-min led the team with three hits and three RBIs on 카지노 the day, and also reached 1,400 career games (81st in the KBO). Brandon was hit in the head by a pitch but remained steadfast on the mound, going six innings and allowing three runs (one earned) to earn the win.
Brandon picked up his sixth win of the season (3-0). Rojas also paced the offense with two hits and three RBIs. Park Seung-ju took the loss and suffered his first defeat of the season.
Meanwhile, four KBO games were canceled today. The Lotte Giants-LG Twins (Jamsil Stadium), NC-SSG Landers (Incheon SSG Landers Field), KIA Tigers-KT Wiz (Suwon Katie Wiz Park), and Samsung Lions-Hanwha Eagles (Daejeon Hanwha Life Eagles Park) were canceled due to rain. These four games will be rescheduled at a later date.