By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter
The Samsung Lions are one victory away from advancing to the second round of the playoff series as the fourth placed team edged the Lotte Giants 4-3 in Game 2 of the first round.
At Sajik Stadium in Busan, Thursday, defense savvy Park Jin-man hit a tie-breaking two-run double in the seventh to give his team an unexpected road sweep following Wednesday's 12-3 rout, which featured a playoff record 19 hits.
Yun Sung-hwan is slated to start Game 3 at Daegu Stadium, Saturday, while lefty Jang Won-joon will start for the Giants.
The Lions, who failed to score in the first inning with a runner on third base, broke the deadlock in the second as first baseman Chae Tae-in hit a double off Giants pitcher Son Min-han, who was 12-4 with a 2.97 ERA this season, and ninth-batter Cho Dong-chan's single up the middle brought home Chae to make it 1-0.
In the bottom of third inning with runners on first and third, cleanup hitter Lee Dae-ho, who was 1-for-2 with a homer against Lions American starter John Ennis this season, singled home to tie the score at 1-1.
However, the Lions, the four-time Korean Series champion, countered in the next inning.
Chae, who went 1-for-5 in Game 1, drove Son's seventh pitch into the right-field seats for a 2-1 lead.
In the fifth inning, the Lions had another scoring chance with the bases loaded, but left-handed reliever Kang Young-sik struck out Choi Hyung-woo ― who is hitless in the series ― to end the inning.
The Giants, who produced three runs on nine hits last night, sent runners on first and third with no out and evened the game on Cho Sung-hwan's double play.
However, shortstop Park Jin-man, who came into the seventh inning with one hit out in six at-bats in the series, broke the tie.
With the based loaded with one out, Park lined a two-run double off the fence in the left field from second reliever Choi Hyang-nam to make it 4-2.
Pinch hitter Kim Min-sung led off the final inning with a single to center and one out later, Kim Joo-chan doubled home to cut the deficit to 4-3. But closer Oh Seung-hwan retired Lee In-koo, who was 4-for-4, and Cho, who remains hitless in nine at-bats with four strikeouts, to close out the game.