Baseball’s Doosan Bears extended their lead over the sixth-place KIA Tigers to 1.5 games with a win over the Kiwoom Heroes on a breezy autumn day in Chiseo, South Korea.
Doosan extended its winning streak to six games against visiting Kiwoom in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League to 11-4 behind a 13-hit batting lineup and six innings of three-run pitching from Brandon Waddell.
Doosan starter Brandon was hit in the back of the head by Ronnie Dawson’s straight hit in the first inning, but threw 115 pitches through the sixth inning, allowing three runs (two earned) on seven hits with three walks and three strikeouts to improve to 6-3 on the season.
Doosan Rojas went 2-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs, while Heo Kyung-min went 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs.
Doosan took the lead in the top of the first inning on Rojas’ RBI double with runners on first and second, and Kiwoom answered with a run in the bottom of the inning on Kim Hwijip’s sacrifice fly.
After a lull, the game’s momentum shifted dramatically when both teams committed errors.
In the top of the fifth inning, Kiwoom’s No. 4 hitter, Song Sung-moon, hit an infield grounder straight to the second baseman.
A normal defense would have ended the inning with a double play, but Doosan second baseman Kang Seung-ho, who caught the ball, attempted a backhanded throw to second base, sending two runners home.
Kang Seung-ho’s error allowed Doosan to tie the game, and Kiwoom’s error turned the tide.
In the top of the sixth inning, Kang Seung-ho singled to right field, but Kiwoom right fielder Im Byung-wook made a bad throw to catch Kim Jae-hwan, who was running to third base.
Lim’s throw went into the Doosan dugout, allowing all runners to advance two bases safely, bringing home Kim Jae-hwan and advancing pinch runner Kang Seung-ho to third.
With the bases loaded, Heo Kyung-min followed with an RBI single to bring the game back to 4-3.
In the top of the seventh, Doosan scored one run on a Rojas double and in the bottom of the seventh, Kiwoom scored one run on Kim’s seventh home run of the season.
Once again, there were errors.
Doosan scored a run in the eighth on back-to-back doubles by Kang Seung-ho and Heo Kyung-min, and a walk to pinch-hitter Yang Yang-ji put runners on first and second with no outs.
Kiwoom second baseman Kim Hye-sung missed a throw from pitcher Kim Jae-woong on a grounder in front of the pitcher, allowing the runners to cross the plate and extend the lead to 7-4.
With runners on first and third, Kiwoom reliever Ha Young-min made a throwing error at first base that allowed Yang Ji-soo to score from third base. 먹튀검증
With the run, Yang became the 37th player in KBO history to reach 800 runs.
Doosan added three runs in the bottom of the ninth to seal the victory.
On the 15th anniversary of “Baseball Day,” which commemorates the day Korea won gold in baseball at the 2008 Beijing Olympics on Aug. 23, the LG Twins and Lotte Giants (Jamsil), SSG Landers and NC Dinos (Incheon), KT Wiz-KIA Tigers (Suwon), and Samsung Lions and Hanwha Eagles (Daejeon) were rained out.