Doosan Takes Game Three, The Series Continues

Doosan 6, Lotte 5
W - Les Walrond, L - Lee Jae-gon, S - Goh Chang Seong
Doosan HR - Lee Jong-wook Lotte HR - Jeon Joon-woo
Lotte leads the series 2-1

Lotte jumped out to an early 2-0 lead thanks to a first inning rally. With runners on second and third with no outs, Lotte second baseman Cho Seong-hwan just missed hitting a three-run homer. The ball bounced off the right field fence and back into the field of play. Cho was in at second with a stand-up double and both runners were able to score.



Lotte kept their 2-0 lead until Doosan rallied for five runs in the fourth inning. Doosan center fielder Lee Jong-wook started the inning with a solo homer. After the homer, Lotte starter Lee Jae-gon lost his composure. Lee loaded the bases with walks and a hit batsman. Doosan shortstop Son Si-heon hit a bouncer to third that Lee Dae-ho simply mis-played. Two runs scored thanks to the hole in Lee's glove. Two more runs scored on singles from infielders Lee Won-seok and Oh Jae-won. By the time the dust settled, Lotte was facing a 5-2 deficit.

Doosan picked up an insurance run in the top of the fifth. Doosan left fielder Kim Hyeon-su doubled on a ball down the first base line. The umpire didn't have a good view of the play and the ball appeared to be foul, but it was called fair and Kim was left standing on second. Kim would later score on a single from shortstop Son Si-heon.



It turned out that Doosan needed the insurance because Lotte rallied in the bottom of the fifth. Lotte center fielder Jeon Joon-woo lead off the inning with a solo homer to cut the deficit to 6-3. Shortstop Hwang Jae-gyun drew a walk. First baseman Kim Ju-chan laid down a sac bunt, but starter Hong Sang-sam threw the ball into right field trying to get Kim at first. With runners on the corners and no outs, Les Walrond was brought in to end the threat. Left fielder Son Ah-seop hit a sac fly to right field. Hwang was able to slide in under the tag and Kim was able to advance to second. Kim would score when Cho Seong-hwan hit a bounced to short. Son's throw to first bounced away from first baseman Kim Hyeon-su and rolled to the wall.

Things got weird in the sixth inning. Hwang Jae-gyun hit a routine fly ball to left field. The ball struck the goofy advertising balloons that the KBO uses at every playoff game. I guess the wind must have blown these things towards the field. Hwang was first ruled safe with a double, but Doosan protested and he was called out. I honestly didn't really understand why Hwang was called out instead of having it ruled foul. Either way, between the original protest by Doosan and the protest of the protest by Lotte, the game was delayed for almost ten minutes.

The series continues on Sunday at 2 PM Korean time at Busan's Fortress Sajik. Lotte's Jang Won-joon will face off against Doosan's Lim Tae-hoon. Jang finished the year 12-6 with a 4.43 ERA and 1.43 WHIP over 144 1/3 innings. He struck out 113 and walked 56. Jang threw the ball exceptionally well over his three September starts. Jang won two out of three and posted a 2.00 ERA over 18 innings. Lim was a shutdown middle reliever who was converted to a mediocre starter at the beginning of this year. Lim finished the year 9-11 with one save and one hold. Lim ended the season with a 5.30 ERA and 1.39 WHIP. He struck out 103 and walked 59 during 130 2/3 innings of work. Lim hasn't won a game in over two months and was working mostly out of the bullpen during September.