By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter
Before the first round of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) playoffs commenced, Lotte Giants manager Jerry Royster put his full trust in Cho Jung-hoon, calling him the league's best pitcher.
And the right-hander, who had previously never pitched in the postseason, played completely up to his boss' expectations as he allowed just two runs on five hits in 7 2/3 innings along with seven strikeouts in a 7-2 win over the Doosan Bears in the opener of the playoff series Tuesday night at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul.
"I am glad that I helped the team win such an important game,'' said Cho, who shared the regular season wins title with 14 and finished second in strikeouts with 175.
He was the club's only pitcher who did not take to the hill against the Samsung Lions in last season's playoff series, where the Giants were swept 3-0.
"Despite it being my first career postseason start, I was not nervous during the game that much. The Bears have power hitters, so I made the most of my breaking ball, which worked. Solid defensive plays and go-ahead runs eased the pressure,'' Cho said.
At the plate, the Giants gave Cho plenty of support, producing 15 hits in the team's first postseason win since October 2000, when they beat the Lions in Game 2 of the first round playoff series.
In addition, the Giants players gave their second-year American coach another fond memory and important milestone ― his first postseason victory in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO).
With the Game 1 victory on the road in the best-of-five series, the Busan-based club puts themselves in good position to move on and face the two-time reigning champion SK Wyverns, who await the winner.
Since the first round of the playoffs was introduced in 1989, all teams that have won Game 1 have advanced to the second stage.
With his diving forkball, Cho retired the first 11 Bears batters, fanning five, while Bears starter C.J. Nitkowski also provided an impressive performance through the first three innings, yielding just three hits.
But the deadlock was broken in the fourth, as the American hurler complained of sudden shoulder pain and was replaced by Kim Sang-hyun.
The reliever, who did not get a chance to properly warm up, surrendered a single to Cho Sung-hwan, who advanced to third with a stolen base and a passed ball. Hong Sung-heon's single up the middle brought him in to score and put his side ahead. With the hit, the former Bear extended his career postseason hit record to 70.
However, the Bears, the Korean Series' finalists in the past two years, struck back immediately in the bottom half of the inning.
With two outs, outfielder Kim Hyun-soo drove Cho's second pitch over the center field wall, an estimated 130 meters, to even the game.
After getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth, the Giants moved ahead again in the sixth on a Bears' error.
With a runner on third and two out, fourth reliever Im Tae-hoon's second pitch scooted past catcher Yong Duk-han for a passed ball to allow Lee Seung-hwa to score to make it 2-1.
The Giants stretched their lead to 4-1 in the eighth on Cho's run-scoring triple and Lee Dae-ho's RBI single.
Kim Kyung-moon's side cut the deficit to 4-2 in the bottom half as Ko Young-min singled home a run, but the spirited Giants notched five hits in a three-run ninth inning to put the game out of reach.
Cho, who suffered through a 2-for-14, five-strikeout slump in last year's playoffs, was perfect at the plate this time, going 4-for-4 with one RBI and two runs.
"As we were swept last year, I was focused on the game more,'' Cho said.
"We all played hard so that we could win today.''
Leadoff hitter Kim Joo-chan added three hits with two RBIs.