Daegu: Behind a solid performance from their starting pitcher and a string of timely hits, the Samsung Lions defeated the SSG Landers 5-3 on Monday to move within a win of reaching the next round in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason. Starter Won Tae-in held the Landers to a run over 6 2/3 innings on a rainy night before a sellout crowd of 23,680 fans at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in the southeastern city of Daegu, as the Lions grabbed a 2-1 lead in this best-of-five first-round series. Their top three hitters in the lineup, Kim Ji-chan, Kim Seong-yoon, and Koo Ja-wook, each had two hits while combining for three RBIs and four runs scored.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the Lions will move on to the next stage with a win in Game 4 at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the same Daegu stadium. The teams were tied at 1-1 in this series before Monday. On seven previous occasions where teams split the first two games of the first-round series, the one that took Game 3 went on to win the series all seven times.
After being silenced by starter Drew Anderson over the first two innings, the Lions put up a three-spot in the third inning to take the lead. Kang Min-ho drew a one-out walk, and Ryu Ji-hyuk followed up with a single. Kim Ji-chan chopped a grounder back to Anderson, who only had time to force Ryu at second base. With two outs, Kim Seong-yoon bounced a soft grounder toward second baseman An Sang-hyun for what could have been the final out of the inning. But An made a wide throw to first, allowing Kang to score easily from third. As the ball trickled into the foul territory, the speedy Kim Ji-chan made aggressive turns around the bases and slid home to put the Lions up 2-0. Koo Ja-wook then doubled home Kim Seong-yoon to win an eight-pitch battle and give the Lions a 3-0 lead. Anderson's night was done after that inning.
The Landers got a run back in the top fourth. With two outs and a runner at second, Choi Ji-hoon, who had batted 5-for-10 against Won in the regular season, hit an RBI single to cut the deficit to 3-1. But then the Lions pulled further ahead in the bottom fifth. After Kim Ji-chan hit a one-out double against reliever Lee Ro-un, Kim Seong-yoon lined another double to make it a 4-1 game. Lee struck out Koo Ja-wook after a postseason-record 17-pitch duel. With the first base open, he intentionally walked Lewin Diaz, he of 50 home runs in the regular season, and chose to face Kim Young-woong instead. Kim made Lee pay right away, smacking an RBI double to deep right field for a 5-1 lead and knocking the right-hander out of the game.
The Landers made things a little more interesting in the top ninth. Second baseman Yang Do-geun dropped a routine pop fly to begin the inning, and Ko Myeong-jun smoked a two-run homer off reliever Bae Chan-seung that made it a 5-3 game. It was Ko's third home run in three games of this series, but it ultimately wasn't enough for the Landers. The game had a 37-minute rain delay in the bottom of the first inning, with a 2-2 count on the Lions' leadoff man Kim Ji-chan, and was played amid persistent showers.