Seoul: Patrick Wisdom homered for the first time in over a month and knocked in three runs, as the Kia Tigers defeated the Doosan Bears 8-3 on the road in Seoul. By extending their winning streak to three games, the Tigers improved to 29-28-1 (wins-losses-ties), marking the first time they have gone over .500 in winning percentage since reaching 2-1-0 on March 25.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the Bears have now dropped four straight games, including two in a row under interim manager Cho Sung-hwan. Their skipper Lee Seung-yuop resigned Monday with the Bears in ninth place among 10 teams in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), and they remain stuck in ninth at 23-34-3. Before a sellout crowd of 23,750 at Jamsil Baseball Stadium, the Bears opened the scoring in the first inning with Kim Jae-hwan's RBI double off starter James Naile, after a single and a hit-by-pitch put two men aboard.
The Tigers tied the score in the second inning when rookie starter Choi Min-seok threw a wild pitch after giving up two straight singles to put runners at the corners. After Choi escaped a no-out, two-on jam unscathed in the third inning, the Bears took the lead thanks to a fortuitous bounce. With Jung Soo-bin at second, Yang Eui-ji chopped a grounder that took a funny hop over shortstop Park Chan-ho, allowing Jung to score and give the Bears a 2-1 lead.
Choi Min-seok ran into more trouble in the fourth inning, walking two batters to start. Patrick Wisdom then hit a single to center fielder Jung Soo-bin, who bobbled the ball, allowing two runners to advance and score, giving the Tigers a 3-2 lead. Jung was charged with two errors on the play, his first of the season.
The Bears tied the game in the fifth inning with Yang Eui-ji's solo home run off Naile. Earlier, Naile took a line drive to the back of his right hand but stayed in the game, only to give up the tying homer four pitches later.
The Tigers answered with a homer from Wisdom in the sixth inning, a two-run shot off reliever Lee Young-ha to take a 5-3 lead. It was Wisdom's 10th homer of the season but his first since April 24. Kim Tae-gun's sacrifice fly in the eighth and Choi Won-jun's two-run homer in the ninth sealed the victory.
Tigers manager Lee Bum-ho praised Wisdom's performance and Naile's resilience despite the injury scare. Naile earned his first win since May 17, allowing three runs on six hits in five innings. Despite some swelling in his hand from the comebacker, Naile did not require further testing and plans to return to work next week.
Naile reflected on the injury, recalling a similar incident last year that resulted in a broken jaw. "It definitely was scary. It brought back some emotions," he said. Despite his recent bad luck, Naile remains optimistic about his recovery and return to the mound.