Lee, Rios Guide Bears to 1-0 Lead
By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter
Center fielder Lee Jong-wook's hustle plays and American hurler Daniel Rios's four-hitter led the Doosan Bears to a 2-0 win over the SK Wyverns Monday in the opening game of the Korean Series in Incheon.
Lee, the 26-year-old leadoff hitter went 2-for-5 along with two stolen bases and scored all the runs recorded by the Bears on the night and the 22-game winner allowed only one walk with 99 pitches.
With the away victory, the Bears, which swept the Hanwha Eagles in the playoffs last week, took a big step toward a fourth Korean Series title.
Game 2 will be played Tuesday in Incheon.
Both teams, as expected, started with Rios and his opposite number George Rayborn of the United States, who has won 17 games this season.
Speedy Lee, who stole bases 47 times this season, shone from the beginning of the opener.
He drove Rayborn's 1-1 pitch to left and advanced on left fielder Kim Hyun-soo's grounder.
Second baseman Ko Young-min doubled home to put the Bears 1-0 up.
The Seoul-based team, which failed to add a run with runners in scoring position in the third and the fourth, had another chance in the fifth.
Once again, Lee ignited the run-scoring inning, singling up the middle.
The five-year pro stole second base and Kim walked, both advancing on a wild pitch from Rayborn.
The American pitcher walked Ko again and third baseman Kim Dong-joo came up with the bases loaded.
He hit a shallow flyout to second baseman Chung Kyoung-bae and the third base runner scored.
While Lee disturbed the Wyverns, who topped the league this season for the first time, Rios, 34, toyed with their batters, who had produced 112 homers _ the best in the league _ with a 150-kph fastball and slider.
He retired the first eight Wyverns until allowing a single to catcher Park Kyung-oan.
Gaining his first Korean Series win, he stopped his losing streak at two, which he suffered in the 2005 Korean Series against the Samsung Lions.
He has tossed 18 scoreless innings in the postseason. He pitched an eight-inning shutout against the Eagles in the playoffs.
The Wyverns, seeking their first Korean Series title, disappointed the 30,400 sell-out crowd, being held to four hits and other than in the eighth inning, having no leadoff hitter reaching first base.