The Doosan Bears swept their first two games of the season against the Samsung Lions. Jang Won-jun and Kim Jae-ho were the stars of the midweek home three-game series.
On May 25, Doosan won 4-3 in 11 extra innings at Jamsil Samsung Electronics. The win avenged the previous day’s loss and moved Doosan back into sole possession of fourth place with a season record of 22 wins, one draw and 20 losses.
Doosan gave up an early run in the top of the second inning when starter Choi Seung-yong gave up back-to-back singles to Kang Min-ho and Oh Jae-il, putting runners on first and third with no outs.
Doosan veteran shortstop Kim Jae-ho hits a game-tying hit in the bottom of the 11th inning against Samsung Electronics in Jamsil on May 25. Photo (Jamsil)=Chun Jeong-hwan
Doosan rallied back in the bottom of the third inning with back-to-back singles by Ahn Seung-han and Kim Jae-ho, and a sacrifice bunt by Jeong Soo-bin and a walk by Lee Yoo-chan to load the bases for Yang Seok-hwan’s two-run double to left field.
The 2-1 lead was precarious, and in the top of the sixth, Doosan gave up an RBI single to Oh Jae-il with the bases loaded to tie the game at 2-2. Starter Choi Seung-yong also pitched six innings of two-run quality ball, but the win requirement was blown.
The tie went into extra innings. After missing a chance to end the game with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Doosan found itself in trouble in the top of the 10th when reliever Hong Gun-hee gave up a double to leadoff hitter Lee Jae-hyun. After a sacrifice bunt and a walk put runners on first and third, Hong was hit by a sacrifice fly to Pirela to end the game.
Doosan kept the spark alive in the bottom of the 10th inning with a double by pinch-hitter Yang Ji. A sacrifice bunt led to a bases-loaded opportunity, and Jung Soo-bin’s exquisite squeeze bunt tied the game at 3-3. After the next batter, Yang Suk-hwan, missed a chance to end the inning with a grounder to shortstop, Doosan loaded the bases with no outs in 스포츠토토the top of the 11th on a single and a throwing error by the new pitcher, Lee Byung-hun.
The Doosan bench replaced the pitcher with Park Jung-soo. After laying down a sacrifice bunt, Park struck out Kim Young-woong and got Kim Hyun-joon to fly out to left field to dramatically end the threat.
Doosan veteran shortstop Kim Jae-ho celebrates after hitting the game-winning hit in the bottom of the 11th inning against Samsung Electronics in Jamsil on May 25. Photo (Jamsil)=Chun Jeong-hwan
The hero of the 11th inning was veteran Kim Jae-ho. Doosan had runners on first and second in the bottom of the 11th with an error and a sacrifice bunt. After the next batter, Jeon Min-jae, walked, Heo Kyung-min and Jang Seung-hyun were hit by a pitch and a walk, respectively, to load the bases.
With Kim Jae-ho coming to the plate, Kim lined a low 141 km/h four-pitch fastball from Hong Jung-woo over the left-center field fence for a clean hit. Doosan used up all of its bullpens on the day, so Kim Jae-ho’s game-winning hit was even more valuable.
Doosan swept the midweek series against Samsung. On day one, veteran left-hander Jang Won-jun earned his 130th career win with five innings, 70 pitches, seven hits, four walks and four strikeouts. Doosan fans felt the ultimate in “romantic baseball” as Jang Won-jun reunited with catcher Yang Ji-ji to win his first game in more than five years.
In the 25th game, two days later, veteran Kim Jae-ho made his first appearance as the “dreaded No. 9” and contributed significantly to the team’s victory with two hits, one RBI, one walk, and one run. It also brought back memories of Kim Jae-ho, who won the Golden Glove for shortstop for two consecutive years in 2015 and 2016. It was the end of the Bears’ romance with baseball.