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| Samsung Lions' Choi Hyoung-woo reacts after delivering a two-run double with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul, Monday, giving his team a 2-1 victory and a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven Korean Series against the Nexen Heroes. / Yonhap |
By Kwon Ji-youn
Game five of the Korean Series truly began in the ninth inning.
The Samsung Lions, at the Jamsil Stadium in Seoul, turned the tide in the last inning to beat the Nexen Heroes 2-1, Monday, for a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven Korean Series. Clean-up hitter Choi Hyoung-woo dished out a two-run double in the bottom of the ninth with two outs.
With this victory, the Samsung Lions only need one more win to secure a fourth consecutive Korean Series triumph. The chance of the game five winner taking the title when the two teams are at 2-2 is 77.8 percent. In 31 Korean Series finals, teams have been tied at two wins apiece nine times, and the club that won game five went on to capture the series seven times.
Both Samsung and Nexen sent speed pitchers to the mound. Samsung sent in Rick VandenHurk as starting pitcher, while Nexen sent Henry Sosa. The Lions failed to make the most of their chances in the first, second and fifth innings despite good pitching by VandenHurk. The Heroes, who finished second in the regular season played strong defense in the first five innings to keep the Lions off the diamond.
Park Hun-do then moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Park Dong-won and then home on a timely hit by Seo Geon-chang, the regular season batting champion, in the sixth.
The Lions, who led the regular season, came close to a turnaround when they loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth inning against reliever Son Seung-lak, but three consequent outs brought the inning to a close.
Desperate for an equalizer, the Lions made chances in the last inning. Yamaico Navarro got to first base when shortstop Kang Jung-ho fumbled a grounder, and Chae hit a double to make a first-third base chance. The Lions' captain Choi came up to hit a ground ball against Son, and though the Heroes' right fielder Yoo Han-joon sent it straight home, Kim Hun-gon's slide got him home faster than the ball.
With this win, the Lions appear to have a solid chance of closing out the Heroes in game six. The Lions have claimed six Korean Series titles since the team joined the Korean Base Organization in 1982, the first year of the league. Game six will take place at Jamsil Stadium tonight at 6:30 p.m., and game seven, if it comes to that, will also take place there.
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